When Our Stars Collide
by Daddysgirl11
Summary: *The 5th installment in the Sunshine series* Ella and Toby are starting their senior year in high school. They're finally together and happier than they've ever been. What could go wrong? Apparently, many things. When something no one was expecting happens, Ella and her loved ones' biggest worries won't be just a new brother in the house.
1. Party Girl

**Happy sequel everyone! Most likely, this will be the last official sequel in my Sunshine series, so let's make the most of it and enjoy it while it lasts.**

 **I don't own Austin & Ally**

* * *

 **June 12, 2025 (Present)**

"Ella, are you awake?"

Ella groaned into the pillow at the sound of Jazzy's voice. This was a constant thing now, ever since the baby had been born in April. Jazzy didn't know the first thing about being a mother, and she needed help all the time.

"No, go away."

"Ella, I know you're up." Jazzy sounded irritated.

"Well I am now." Ella turned over and glared at the intruder. "What are you _wearing_?"

Jazzy had on a skin tight tank top that didn't even hint at the baby fat she might have gained since she'd been pregnant with little April. On her tan legs (obviously she'd gone to the tanning bed since Ella had last seen her) were frayed black jean shorts that almost showed her butt. She was very obviously wearing a pushup bra. Also, Jazzy was wearing four inch red stilettos, and her makeup was bold: bright red lipstick completed with the smokey eye look.

It all spoke of the one word Ella dreaded to hear _again_.

"What?" Jazzy pouted and looked down at her clothes. "These are my party clothes!"

Party. She said it. Ella wanted to slap her for it, but she was just so tired. She had been up for hours that night, babysitting April, Mia and all three of Maddie's kids. At the same time.

"I'm guessing you want me to babysit?" Ella asked as she laid back down on her pillow.

"Don't be silly! I was going to see if you wanted to come with me!"

Ella scoffed inwardly. "Will there be alcohol at this party?"

"Well yeah, but-"

"Will there be parental supervision?"

"Not exactly-"

Ella cut her off again. "Do my parents know you're going, or that you're trying to get me to go"

"No, but come on-"

"Then no," Ella said firmly.

"Ella-"

"I said no," Ella repeated, "I'm not going to some stupid party at...what time is it?"

"Midnight," Jazzy shrugged.

Ella closed her eyes and counted to ten. "I'm not going to some stupid party with you at midnight."

"Okay…" Jazzy trailed off. "Well, in that case, will you babysit?"

"As long as it gets you to shut up," Ella said, reaching for the baby monitor without even opening her eyes. She knew Jazzy didn't actually want her going to the party; she wanted a babysitter, but didn't want to appear selfish and needy like the brat she often was. Ella briefly wondered what Jazzy would've done if she'd said she wanted to go, but dismissed the thought immediately.

"Thanks Ella, you're the best!"

"If I beg you not to drink, will it even make a difference?" Ella sighed.

"Probably not." And with that, Jazzy flounced out the door without another word.

Seconds later, Ella was asleep once more, unaware of the crash that sounded when the baby monitor fell to the floor and the batteries fell out.

* * *

" _Why_?" Emma complained loudly as she stepped out of her bedroom, just in time to see Eli and Evan stepping out of their room, looking grouchy. So the crying had woken them up too. Where was Jazzy?

"Is someone gonna shut that stupid kid up?" Evan demanded, glaring at Eli and Emma as if all of this was their fault.

"I'll get her," Eli sighed and took off towards the attic stairs where Jazzy and April currently lived. He returned moments later, holding the screaming baby girl. "She was up there all alone. Where the h-heck is Jazzy and who had the baby monitor?"

Eli sounded livid. Wordlessly, Emma stepped forward and took the baby from him. April was sensitive to moods, like most babies, and hated to be held by angry people, even if they were angry on her behalf, which Eli obviously was. He was practically fuming.

"Where's Ella?" Evan asked, wiping his tired eyes.

"She's still sleeping," Emma said as she bounced April up and down. The baby had started to quiet down a little bit, and was now sniffling miserably. "I know baby," Emma whispered, kissing the top of her head. "I'm sorry, I don't know where Mommy is."

It was getting about ridiculous how many times Emma found herself, or one of the other members of the household, saying this to April. Jazzy was a flat-out irresponsible mother, and kept pushing her baby off on other people. They were understanding enough the first couple of weeks, but the baby was now two months old and it was getting ridiculous. They all had to go to school or work, just like Jazzy. It didn't matter that school had recently let out for the summer. Everyone needed their rest.

"She can't keep putting her baby off on Ella and the rest of us," Eli growled. "She takes no responsibility for herself or her kid. And like my mom always said, that's the first step to abandonment. My dad-"

Eli stopped. He never talked about Uncle Elliot if he could help it, and he never talked about how he had left Eli and his mother before he'd even been born.

"Where's Ally?" Eli asked abruptly. "She and Austin need to deal with this. We can't keep living like this forever."

"What are you kids doing up so early?"

"Speak of the devil," Evan muttered as their dad walked into the hallway wearing flannel pajama pants. He'd started wearing pajamas instead of a t-shirt and boxers when Jazzy and Eli moved in.

"I can't deal with her crap anymore Austin!" Eli practically shouted. April started whimpering again, so Emma started humming a slow pop song that she loved. It had her quiet again, and she laid her little head on Emma's shoulder.

"Who?" Austin asked in bewilderment. He glanced at Emma, but she just shook her head. She wanted no part of this.

"Jazzy!" Eli exclaimed. "April was screaming her head off and no one was up there watching her. We don't even know who has the baby monitor! We can't keep waking up like this at the crack of dawn because no one's taking care of the baby."

April started crying again. Emma could relate. She felt a bit like crying herself.

"Oh my gosh!" Evan threw his hands in the air and stalked off to his room. "Shut her up or I will!" And he slammed the door.

"Evan!" Emma exclaimed, aghast. She thrust the baby into her cousin's arms and took off after her twin.

Eli turned to Austin with a hard glare as he held the squalling baby once again. "Ella's exhausted, Austin. She's seventeen. This is not her baby. She's so tired she didn't even hear the crying. Fix this."

And he passed the baby to Austin, stalking off after the twins to the bedroom he and Evan now shared.

Austin glanced down at the screaming baby and sighed. _This_ was something he really didn't feel like doing all over again.

"Ally!" He called. "Als, we need to talk!"

* * *

Ella jumped up in bed with a start. "What the-"

Toby smiled across the room at her. He was sitting in her beanbag chair with April sleeping in his arms. Ella's heart melted. She could never get enough of seeing a big, strong guy like Toby holding a little baby in his arms like she was the most precious thing in the world.

"You're staring at me." Toby laughed. "I know I'm stunningly attractive, but…"

"Oh shut up." Ella rolled her eyes. She would've thrown her pillow at him if he hadn't been holding the baby. "Where's Jazzy?"

"You don't remember her asking you to babysit?" Toby frowned. "We found the baby monitor on your floor. The batteries had fallen out and we figured you didn't know you dropped it."

Ella gasped. "Oh no! What time is it? Did Jazzy come home yet? Did the baby wake everyone up? What-"

"Ella," Toby cut her off with a laugh, "one question at a time. But yes, the baby woke everyone except you up, and no, Jazzy's not back yet. It's about noon."

"NOON?"

"Calm down Ells. There were plenty of people here to make sure April was fine, and I'm sure Jazzy will be home soon. Where did she go this morning, anyway?"

"She went to a party _last night_ ," Ella stressed. "I was so tired! I didn't really get to talk her out of it. She said….oh no, I think she said there would be alcohol and no parental supervision. Oh my gosh, how could I be so stupid?"

Toby laid the baby down on one of Ella's blankets he'd spread across the floor and came to sit beside her. "Ells, you are _not_ stupid. I know you love April, honey, but she's not our daughter. We are not responsible for raising her. Jazzy is April's mother. You're working yourself to death, trying to handle everything around here by yourself. But you shouldn't have to. You need to live your own life. Let your parents take care of your brothers and Emma, unless they're out of town, and don't let Jazzy push you around anymore. She has to be the one to raise her baby. And you know it."

Ella glanced over at the baby on the floor. "But what if she needs me?" She searched her boyfriend's face. "April's so small and innocent. She can't help it that her mother would rather go off partying than stay here and raise her."

"No, but Austin already told me he and Ally are talking to Jazzy as soon as she gets home. Just because you're not April's mom doesn't mean you can't love her….Aunt Ella." He bumped her shoulder when he said that.

Ella smiled faintly and laid her head on his chest. "It's hard to let go."

"Yet you still want to be a foster mom." It wasn't a question, but Toby's voice held a tone of amazement in it.

"Yes." Ella didn't even hesitate. "I'm not going to be a foster mom for _me_. I'm doing it for God, and for the kids. _They_ need me. They need someone to love them, even if only for a little while. Even if my heart breaks everytime I watch one of them leave."

Toby smiled. He was looking at April now too. "Then I guess I should be a foster dad, too. We're in this together." Toby lifted their joined hands and kissed hers.

"Are you sure?" Ella looked concerned. "Because I'm positive I was _called_ to do this. But if you don't feel-"

"Ella," Toby cut in, softly this time, "can't you see how I look at April? Baby, it's not just hurting you, this situation with Jazzy. I've helped take care of her just as long as you have and it'll kill me if Jazzy ever takes her away. She may not be our daughter but….it sure feels that way."

Ella smiled slightly. "I did notice, yes. I noticed that in you from the moment you first held Bri, the day the twins were born. You'll make a great Daddy someday."

"And you'll make an incredible Mommy." Just as Toby bent down to kiss her, a cry sounded. He pulled back reluctantly. "But not yet. I want to keep kissing you any time I want to right now, without having a little cutie screaming for our attention."

Ella grinned and stood up. "I'll get her. Stay here."

* * *

Austin and Ally were sitting on the couch, waiting, when Jazzy staggered through the front door. Five pairs of curious eyes watched from their perspective hiding spots.

"Is she drunk?" Emma whispered, glancing at her brother and her cousin from their hiding spot in the kitchen. Evan shushed her, causing Emma to thwack him upside the head.

"Can't tell," Eli said. "She could be buzzed and just can't walk straight in those heels."

"It's freaky you know all that," Evan muttered.

"Shut up," Eli hissed. They all turned their attention back to the living room.

Jazzy was blinking in confusion at the sight of Ella's parents staring at her from where they were sitting, a little too straight up on the couch.

"We need to talk," Ally said, right off the bat.

"Uh oh," Ella whispered to Toby from the top of the stairs where they were listening. Toby said nothing, only nodded.

"Okay." Jazzy shrugged and dropped into the loveseat, taking her shoes off as she did so. "They're hurting my feet," she said, by way of explanation.

"Jazzy," Ally sighed, "where have you been?"

"At a party. Ella said-"

"Ella is not the owner of this house, and she is not your baby's mother," Austin cut in.

"I know that." Jazzy was suddenly sitting straight up. "What would you say something like that for?"

"When was the last time you actually spent the entire weekend with April?" Ally asked.

"Last week!" Jazzy said in indignation. "I'm always here with my daughter!"

Austin snorted. "Really? Then why was Ella watching her all yesterday before you got home and for the thirteen hours you were gone last night?"

"I don't do that all the time!"

"No," Ally shot back, her voice growing louder, "just when there's a party, right? Just when there's better things to do than lay around here all day, watching TV?"

"It's not like a baby does anything more than eat, sleep and use the bathroom!"

"She needs love!" Ally stood up, her face bright red. All the onlookers leaned forward intently. "She needs you to be with her! Jazzy, I'm sorry to say this, but lately you've been behaving very irresponsibly and I won't stand for it."

Jazzy clamped her jaw shut. "You think I'm a bad mother?"

"We never said that." Austin stepped forward and placed a hand on Jazzy's shoulder, like a father might do, but she shook it off. "Sweetie, we're trying to help you and April here, but we can only do that if you want to help yourself. Nothing can change for someone whose not willing to let the change occur."

Jazzy turned her head. "I'm going upstairs to see my baby."

"Not until you sleep off that hangover," Ally said, arms folded. Jazzy turned, looking incredulous. Ally didn't back down. "Sorry, but we're not taking any risks. You're lucky we let you in the house when you're not sober. We won't do it again. I won't have you endangering my kids and that little baby with your carelessness. Now, go take a shower and get in the bed. I'll bring you up some water and something to help ease the headache I'm sure you'll have in a few hours."

Toby and Ella jumped back and darted for the nearest bedroom, that happened to be Ella's parents, as Jazzy stamped up the stairs.

"That was intense," Toby whispered, once she'd passed and they heard the water running in the bathroom.

"I know," Ella whispered back. "I've never heard my mom sound so angry."

The door opened. Ella's eyes widened, and she instinctively backed up a step, right into Toby. She'd stepped on his foot and caused him to hiss in pain.

"Great," Ella's mom laughed, without any mirth in her tone, "the kids were 's the younger ones Ella? Hiding in the bathroom?"

Ella blinked. "Mom, are you mad at me too?"

Ally sighed. "Not really, but you should've woken us up as soon as Jazzy told you she was going to a party."

"I'm sorry Mom," Ella said immediately, stepping forward. "I was so tired, I couldn't think straight! I know I should've told you, and I know I should've tried to stop her-"

"Sunshine, stop," Austin had walked in the room and wrapped an arm around Ally's waist. "It's okay. We don't blame you. Your mom's just upset right now."

Ally looked down. "I hate what she's doing to you. All those tests you kids had at the end of the year, and she was having you watch her baby so she could go party.."

"She was in school too, Mom," Ella reminded her mother.

Ally sighed. "But she doesn't care about her grades. You do."

"I'm fine." Ella moved forward to hug both her parents. "And by the way, the kids weren't watching from up here. I think they were downstairs in the kitchen."

Ally closed her eyes. She looked as if she were trying hard not to smile. "Of course they were."

* * *

 **January 5, 2025**

Jazzy was at the hospital for one of her routine visits. She hated these things. She hated the pitying look on her doctor's face, and the scandalized ones of the random strangers she passed in the halls.

But most of all, Jazzy especially hated the doctor's granddaughter, Merilee Ingram. The kid was way too perky.

"Are you going to raise your baby all by yourself?" The girl asked now.

Jazzy nodded. "Yep."

"That sounds a bit hard, don't you think? I mean, I know you live with the Moons and all, but you've got school and you're still a teenager…"

What did this kid have against her? Why did she keep following her? Did Jazzy do something that caused the universe to hate her, or was the God Ella always talked about suddenly interested in her life and decided to punish her for being pregnant?

"It does sound kind of hard," Jazzy agreed.

"But you're going to do it anyway?" Jazzy nodded again. "Wow, that is so cool. You're braver than I ever could be. I mean, I'd never get an abortion, but I don't think I could handle raising a baby. My mom would probably do it for me, since she's a foster mom and all."

Jazzy knew this. Merilee had told her all about her family in the past few visits. She knew Merilee was her mother's only biological child, and that her father was not in the picture. She knew Merilee's mom was the oldest Murphy child, and that the youngest was a senior in high school. She knew Merilee's mother had two younger brothers and two younger sisters. She knew Merilee had three foster siblings living in her house. She also knew that if this child didn't stop talking soon, she was going to have a fit.

"Merilee, leave the girl alone."

Jazzy looked up. A boy around her own age had entered the room. He was very handsome, with long-ish, sandy blond hair that fell into his eyes, so Jazzy was unable to see what color they were, and he was most likely taller than her, but not by much if he was. He wasn't looking at her, and Jazzy was sort of glad. She was wearing a hospital gown and her hair was thrown into a messy ponytail. She hadn't expected any _men_ to walk in the room.

"Terribly sorry," the boy murmured. "I'll take her out."

And suddenly the handsome boy was her saving grace.

"That's quite alright." Jazzy was using her best flirty voice. "What's your name?"

The boy still wasn't looking at her. "Logan Murphy."

"He's my uncle," piped up the mini-teen that Jazzy had recently been so annoyed with.

"I'm Jazzy Davis."

This made the boy look up. "Davis, did you say?"

Jazzy nodded. She didn't like how his eyes (which were green, she noticed) flashed at the sound of her name. "Murphy, did you say?" She retorted.

He nodded slowly in reply. "Yup. My mom's your doctor, it would seem."

Jazzy let a small smile form on her face. "Well, I guess we'll be seeing a lot of each other, then, won't we?"

* * *

 **June 14, 2025 (Present)**

"Can you believe them?" Jazzy vented, the baby on her shoulder. She was at the hospital, a place she'd come to find herself at a lot lately when she needed to calm down or to vent.

It had been two days since Austin and Ally had gotten so angry with her, and Jazzy had been able to feel all the angry gazes on her back every time she left the attic to use the bathroom or get something to eat. Austin and Ally didn't like the fact that she was "using" Ella to take care of her baby, and the kids didn't like being woken up by April's screaming (which couldn't be helped). And it wasn't like Jazzy could help it that Ella liked taking care of her baby so much.

Merilee Ingram, still only thirteen years old, blinked up at Jazzy. As annoying as she seemed, Merilee had become something of a friend to Jazzy in her trips up to the hospital. "I think that's the most you've ever said to me," Merilee said, once Jazzy had finished her story.

Jazzy sighed. "I just don't understand what they expect me to do. Should I just stop living a normal life because I have a baby? It's not like I'm ignoring she exists!"

Merilee hesitated. "Jazzy…"

"What?" Jazzy frowned. "Spit it out, you're always saying whatever's on your mind anyway."

"Jaz, you aren't acting responsible," Merilee sighed. "When you have a kid, there's certain things you have to give up. Make sacrifices, you know? You don't have to give up everything, but you're supposed to re-prioritize your life around your baby. April should be the most important thing in your life."

"She is!" Jazzy protested.

"Then act like it," Merilee snapped. "Parents shouldn't leave their kids with other people all the time. I get you have school and work, but you shouldn't be away from your daughter more than you have to be. A party, Jazzy? Really? That's inappropriate to begin with, but as a parent, it's downright ridiculous. You may not be pregnant anymore, but your decisions still affect your baby."

Jazzy stared at her. Merilee always talked a lot, about whatever was on her mind...but never like this. She'd never purposely judged Jazzy for getting pregnant as a teenager, or being on drugs before she'd gotten pregnant.

But she was judging her now, and Jazzy felt awful.

"I'm not doing anything that would hurt her," Jazzy said, placing a hand over her baby's head, feeling her thin, wispy black hair beneath her fingers.

"Actually, you are."

Jazzy turned. Logan was standing behind them, aloof as always.

"What do you mean?" Jazzy pouted.

"Your baby needs your company most of all in the first few months of her life. She needs _you_ to attach to, or she'll attach to someone else, someone who's around her most. It's a proven fact. In the long run, she'll be hurt more. She won't obey you, and she'll use your past mistakes against you, saying she should be able to do something because you'd done it before."

Jazzy frowned. Merilee leaned forward and grabbed her hand. "April needs to see you as someone who knows everything. Kids are in awe of their parents when they're little. If they see their parents making mistake after mistake, they'll be really messed up."

Logan gave his niece a hard look. "Mer…"

Merilee stood up. "I'm going to go find Nana. Be there for your daughter, Jazzy. She needs you."

Jazzy watched her walk away. Logan took the seat Merilee vacated. "Her dad left when she was little," he said softly. "It's bugged her ever since, when people don't pay enough attention to their kids."

"What about her mom?" Jazzy asked, moving April to her left arm so she could feed her a bottle.

Logan grimaced. "Merilee understands why Jenna can't be with her all the time. She's a single mom, she works, she's constantly got a house full of foster kids… But Jenna loves Merilee more than life itself. Her dad didn't. He chose to leave. Jenna never chose to be away from Merilee. You see, the choice….that's what makes a difference."

Jazzy sighed. "I don't know how to be a good parent. My mom's dead and my dad was a sucky father. I was….a horrible teenager. I did awful things, and I never really got the feeling I was doing anything that wrong until I moved in with the Moons. Now, that's all I feel like I do."

Logan nodded sympathetically. "It's not easy to change who you are, especially if you don't want to."

"But I _do_ want to."

Logan gave her a considering look. "If I could pull some strings...get you a place to live, just for you and the baby, do you think you'd be able to get a job to pay for rent and maybe a car?"

Jazzy blinked. She'd lived with the Moons for over half the year, and though it was cramped, it was the first place she'd ever truly felt welcomed in, even if she knew none of the kids liked her very much. She and Ella had become something close to friends, once Jazzy had let her know she had no desire to steal Toby from her. And all of them liked her baby, most of the time. It felt almost wrong to leave the safety of the Moons'...and yet.

If Jazzy moved out, she wouldn't be yelled at all the time. And it wasn't like the family wouldn't still be in her life. Ally had already told her that they'd continue helping her with April and her financial difficulties if she ever decided to move out.

Jazzy turned to face Logan with renewed interest. "What kind of deal are we talking about here?"

* * *

 **Hey guys! I hope you like this highly anticipated (at least for me) next sequel in my Sunshine series! This chapter was,for the most part, written at 4:30 AM in March, (and technically all the scenes were fragments from my notebook way before that) but I knew a good bit of the story wouldn't be ready until now, so I waited to post it. Hope the wait was worth it for you guys! I'm really excited for this sequel and to see what you guys think. Plus, I understand grammar and punctuation now so I won't change it up in the middle of this story like I kept doing with the others. :)**

 ***I don't own anything you might recognize.**

 **God bless you all!**

 **-Daddysgirl11**


	2. Jazzy's Announcement

**Thanks everyone for all your wonderful reviews! I hope this sequel is everything you've come to expect from my Sunshine series.**

 **Ausllydabest: Don't worry, I'll definitely continue updating Already There along with this story. My new stories don't affect my updating the other stories on my page. I will also continue updating my Harry Potter Next Generation story, Malfoys Are Different, along with these. And I'll be trying to work towards the endings for Ally's Romeo and Use Your Voice.**

 **I don't own Austin & Ally**

* * *

 **June 14, 2025 (Present)**

"Hello Moons," Jazzy said happily, throwing the front door open. "Guess who's moving out?"

The family all shot up from their seats. Emma hoisted the baby from Jazzy's arms; Austin and Ally bombarded her with questions; the boys looked much too happy to see her go. Jazzy wasn't sure what to make of all this attention. They'd largely ignored her for the majority of her stay.

Ella stayed on the couch, clutching her phone tightly in her hand. Jazzy was sure she'd just texted Toby.

Jazzy felt bad. Ella and Toby loved April like their own child. They'd taken care of her when Jazzy had been careless.

Jazzy pushed past the demanding family members and went to sit by Ella. "I want to talk to you later," Jazzy whispered. "You and Toby both. Will you come by my room tonight?"

Ella nodded wordlessly, not looking up. She seemed stunned.

"Where are you going to go? What are you going to do?" Ally fretted.

"Do you even have a job?" Austin asked.

Jazzy smiled a little. She _knew_ they cared. "Logan is helping me with all of that. He's helping me get a job, and a small apartment."

"Logan?" Emma asked. "Logan Murphy?"

Jazzy nodded.

"Where did you meet Logan Murphy?" Austin asked, wide eyed. "That kid never talks."

"He talks to Jazzy," Eli spoke up. Jazzy turned. She'd barely been acknowledged by Eli as long as she lived there. She wasn't even aware he noticed her unless they passed each other in the hallway. "Merilee Ingram says they talk all the time. I think it's her fault, honestly…."

Jazzy grinned to herself. It _was_ Merilee's fault that she and Logan talked. "Merilee Ingram doesn't lie. We met at the hospital before I had April and got to talking. He's nice."

Everyone still seemed shocked. Jazzy figured this was because people rarely saw Logan talk. He mostly stayed to himself.

Jazzy thought about their second meeting. That was interesting indeed.

* * *

 **January 18, 2025**

The second Jazzy got to the hospital, Merilee Ingram was there, chatting her ear off. Jazzy pretended to listen, not wanting to make the doctor that paid for all of Jazzy's visits mad by upsetting her granddaughter. However, it was a very hard task.

"Did Eli come with you? I just love that boy. Very endearing, don't you think?"

"I don't know, I don't really talk to-"

"And his eyes! He reminds me very much of a young Harry Potter without glasses. Do you think he looks like Harry Potter without glasses?" Merilee asked. They'd made it to Jazzy's room. She'd talked to Jazzy the whole time she'd been waiting in the waiting room.

Jazzy had to strain to keep up with the line of questions. "I guess-"

"But he's so reserved. I feel like he doesn't even hear what I say. Does he act that way around you?"

"I'm not his sister, Merilee," Jazzy said, devoid of her patience. "Can I change please?"

"Huh? Oh sure." She moved forward and grabbed the curtain around Jazzy's bed, pulling it between them. "So what's your take on Eli? Do you think he's reserved?"

Jazzy sighed and stripped off her shirt. "I really couldn't say, Merilee."

The door squeaked open. Jazzy froze, hands at the waistline of her pants.

"There you are," said a familiar, frustrated voice. "Good, you're not bothering anyone."

Jazzy poked her head around the curtain. "Hello," she said, amused. "Logan, was it?"

He went red in the face. "Merilee," he said out of the corner of his mouth, "what did I tell you about bothering Grandma's patients?"

Merilee shrugged. "Jasmine here was just telling me all about the Moons' new cousin, Eli."

Jazzy walked out from behind the curtain, still in just her bra and sweatpants. "It's Jazzy," she said and grabbed the hospital gown. She at least had the decency to leave on her pants until the gown was all the way on. Logan looked away, his face very red. "And Merilee wasn't bothering me at all. She's totally welcome here."

An outright lie, Jazzy knew, but if it brought the handsome youngest Murphy son around more, she didn't mind lying.

"Aunt Elise said you'd get me some cookies," Merilee interrupted, looking meaningfully at her uncle.

"Did she now?" Logan looked neither unhappy, nor surprised about this; in fact, he didn't look like he'd heard his niece at all.

"Uh huh," Merilee said with a grin. "She said you'd bring me one the next time you saw me, or Nana and PawPaw would be very upset."

Logan sighed. "You know where to go, Mer. Just don't bother the staff."

"Me? Never!" She looked affronted. "They love me!"

Jazzy finished dressing, and Logan gave Merilee money to buy her snack. He then turned to Jazzy, eyes downcast and a look of awkward hesitancy on his face.

"Uh, good to see you again," he said.

Jazzy grinned and sauntered forward. "How can you see me if you're looking down?" She pushed his chin up and moved the hair out of his eyes. "That's better."

He backed away a step, swallowing thickly. "I'll...leave you to it then." He made for the door, just as Linda Murphy stepped in. "Mom!"

Jazzy bit her lip, trying not to laugh. Logan Murphy was cute.

"Hi honey, what are you doing here?" His mother asked.

"Leaving!" He said immediately, then cleared his throat. "I mean...Merilee was in here. I just got her to leave and now I was just...leaving too."

He ducked through the door. Linda turned to Jazzy, looking amused. "What was that all about?"

Jazzy shrugged, hiding a wicked grin. "One can only guess. It's an interesting family you have there."

Very interesting indeed.

* * *

 **June 14, 2025 (Present)**

It took a while to get everyone to shut up and stop bothering her, but Jazzy assured them she wouldn't be leaving until she had a steady job and a place to go. Finally, she was able to take her baby up to their attic room. Toby had shown up just minutes before her escape, so he and Ella followed her up to her room.

"What is it you wanted to talk to us about?" Toby asked. Ella still wasn't speaking.

"Well, there's something very important I wanted to ask both of you. You both turn eighteen soon, right?" Jazzy asked.

Toby nodded. "August, yeah."

Jazzy smiled. "Well, I was wondering if...if you guys wanted to be April's godparents?"

Ella's head snapped up. Toby looked stunned.

"You want us to be...the godparents…" Toby said slowly.

"You don't have to," Jazzy said immediately, hefting April up a little. "Or, if one of you wanted to and the other didn't, we could work something out. Look, if you guys don't want to…"

Ella moved forward and lifted April from Jazzy's arms. "Hi baby," she whispered, running a hand over April's tiny back.

Toby had a funny look on his face as he looked at the both of them. He laughed nervously. "We need to think about this, talk it through…"

Jazzy held up her hands. "I completely understand. Take all the time you need."

Ella glanced hopefully at Toby's still stunned face, once they were back in her bedroom. "Well?" she demanded excitedly. "What do you think?"

He looked at her, but Ella wasn't sure what he was thinking. He had the strangest look on his face, like he and Ella weren't even in the same room together.

"Toby?" Ella snapped her fingers in front of his face.

He shook his head quickly and glanced down at her with wide eyes. "Oh sorry, did you say something?"

Ella raised her eyebrows. "I said, what do you think?"

"About…?"

"Being April's godparents, silly!"

Toby bit his lip. "I...I'm not sure."

"You're not sure?" Ella's brow furrowed. "Why aren't you sure? You were just saying the other day how it felt like April was already our daughter and-"

"I know what I said." Toby sat down on Ella's bed. When Ella sat beside him, he wrapped his arms around her body, almost as if he were unaware of doing it, and leaned them back against the headboard. "It's just...Ells, are you sure? I mean, I don't know if we're ready to be parents…"

"Godparents," Ella reminded him. "Honestly Toby, it's not even like it's the same thing. We'd only be April's parents if something happened to Jazzy."

"Still…" Toby heaved a sigh.

Ella rolled over onto her stomach, so she was looking down at him. "If something happened to Jazzy and someone said April would need to be put in foster care or, God forbid, given back to her father, what would you do?"

Toby sat up straight, and Ella rolled to the side again, staring at him expectantly. "I would do anything and everything I could to keep that little girl with us."

Ella smiled. "And how is that different from being her godparents?" She asked. "That way, it'd all be legalized and there would be less of a chance that she could be taken away from us."

Toby looked down at his hands.

"What is it?" Ella asked, putting her hand on her boyfriend's arm. She'd never not been able to understand him like this before. She just couldn't see why he didn't want this.

"I...don't know if I'll be a good dad," he admitted finally.

" _What_?" Ella sat up in indignation. "Toby, you're great with kids! Why on earth wouldn't you be a good dad? Didn't I just tell you the other day-"

"Yes, you did," Toby cut her off. "I know you think I'll be a great dad and all, but how good could I really be? I want to be a racer. What kind of father does that? And I criticize my own parents all the time just because they want me to succeed and be like them...and what's wrong with that? My parents are awesome!"

Ella gave him a sympathetic smile. "You're not your parents, Toby. You're you. And I wouldn't want you any other way. And hey, all kinds of kids have racer dads! Think of how much fun our son or daughter would have at the tracks."

" _Our_ son or daughter," Toby said with a tiny smile on his face. "I love it when you talk like that, like our future together is assured."

"Well, isn't it?" Ella frowned. What was he trying to say?

Toby leant down and kissed her hand. "Of course. As much as anyone's future can be assured. Ours...well, as long as there are stars in the sky I will fight to be by your side."

Ella grinned. "The stars only come out at night."

Shaking his head, Toby shot back, "But they're always there, even if you can't see them. That's us."

Ella shook her head, biting her lip to hide a smile. "My, my. When did my Toby become so poetic?"

"I do have my moments."

Ella nudged him with her shoulder. "So….?"

"So?"

Ella gave him a look. Toby raised his hands in surrender and smiled. "Okay, okay, sorry. I guess we should tell Jazzy that April's got herself a couple of lug nut godparents."

* * *

 **June 20, 2025 (Present)**

"By the Angel, Evan! It's just a hoodie!" Emma screamed, hugging her arms to her chest while wearing said hoodie.

"But it's _my_ hoodie!" Evan shouted right back at her. "And stop swearing in fandom references that no one gets."

"I get them," said Ella, walking past them calmly.

Eli groaned into his hands. He was sitting on the couch, but every time he tried to draw anything, one of his new family members would interrupt his thinking.

He'd wanted to give his aunt and uncle something for taking him in when they didn't even know him, but there was nothing he could afford on his own. They'd even paid for his art supplies. But Eli had seen how dedicated the two of them were to their family, and though it wouldn't be much, a hand drawn family portrait would have to do for the time being.

"What are you drawing?"

Eli jumped, and his colored pencils,along with his notebook, went flying. For a moment, he thought it was Merilee Ingram standing over him, but that was ridiculous. Merilee might be a constant annoyance for him at school, but she, thankfully, didn't ever follow him home. So he hadn't seen her much the past three weeks, what with it being summer.

"Sorry," Ella smiled down at him and reached to grab his notebook from the floor. "I didn't mean to scare you."

Eli snatched it up before she could start flipping through his sketches, and bent to pick up his pencils. "Don't worry about it."

Eli didn't know how to react to his new sister. He'd never known he had a sister, even if Ella was only his half-sister. Their father had abandoned them both, and now their father's younger sister, Ally, was stuck raising them only difference was, Ella had been raised by her aunt and uncle almost her entire life. At least Eli's mother had loved him enough to stick around. From what Eli had heard, Ella's mother, the woman their father had always been (and still was) in love with, was not a good person. He'd heard stories of how she'd kidnapped Ella twice, and not out of some crazy maternal love for her, or the urge to get her back. Eli might've understood if it was some custody thing and she wanted to see her daughter, but it was quite obvious Samantha Freeman had not kidnapped Ella out of love.

"I don't think I've ever seen any of your drawings," Ella said now, glancing at the sketch book in his hands. Eli bit back a laugh. If there was anything Ella was not, it was subtle.

Eli shrugged, looking away from his sister's smiling face. She was always so cheery, it was a bit unnerving. "I don't really show anyone the things I draw."

"Oh, okay." She took a seat beside him, looking unruffled, and grabbed the remote.

With her attention on the TV, Eli took a moment to study his big sister. She wasn't much taller than him, despite being about four years older. She had long brown hair and eyes that were dark, dark brown.

Ella seemed nice enough, and it was obvious she was trying to make the effort to get to know him, but Eli wasn't sure how effective that would be. She was almost an adult. Eli was sure she'd be married to her boyfriend within the next couple of years.

"Is there anything on here you wanna watch?" Ella asked, directing her attention back to Eli. "I'm cool with anything, even sports."

Eli couldn't help but snort. "You don't strike me as a sports kind of girl."

She grinned at him, and there was a wicked gleam in her eyes that let Eli know right away he would be eating those words. "Oh really? You're talking to the girl that grew up with Toby Bentley, aka the boy who is never not watching a race, and is the star quarterback on the high school football team. And you should be here when Alabama's playing Florida. Oh my gosh…"

Eli's mouth quirked up a little. "Typical. Of course you'd be a Florida fan."

"You think I'm a _Florida_ fan?" she demanded.

"Uh oh, now he's done it.." The twins had stopped fighting. Emma, still wearing her brother's hoodie, was giggling into her sleeves, while Evan was shaking his head with a rueful look. He said, "You just insulted the world's most hard core Bama fan."

"You're an Alabama fan?" Eli turned an incredulous stare on his sister. "But you live in Florida!"

She scoffed. "Yeah, and how many National and SEC Championships does Florida have? Not nearly as many as Alabama, I can tell you that."

"Is everyone in this family an Alabama fan?"

"Not everyone cares," Ella said, shrugging. "But no, most of them are Florida fans, like Toby and my dad."

"Austin?"

"Of course." She said it without a thought. "My friend Thalia is a Georgia fan, but she lived there for years, so that can be expected."

"I'm an Alabama fan," Emma said, pouting.

Evan snorted. "I'm not. Gators all the way."

Ella rolled her eyes and whispered to Eli, "Evan's only a Florida fan because he's copying our dad. Emma was copying me, and she doesn't even pay much attention to the game."

"Hey!" Emma protested. "I don't have time to pay attention to the game. I'm a writer, and I'm studying to be a nurse."

Eli's eyes widened. "Already? You're like ten."

Emma scowled and crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm eleven, almost twelve, Bucko. And it's never too early to start preparing for what you want to do with the rest of your life."

Eli had absolutely no words for that. He didn't even know what he wanted to do with the rest of his life, and this kid had already started studying for her career.

"Not everyone's a mega nerd like her," Evan stage whispered.

Emma pushed him.

Eli smiled. For all their faults, the twins were good kids. They weren't much younger than he was, but somehow Eli still felt on the outside, even if he was sharing a room with Evan.

As good as the twins sometimes were, they were also two little blond monsters. All the Moon children had brown eyes, but the twins' hair was just a shade darker of blond than their father's, and Ella got the Dawson brown hair. Ally had it too, so Eli could see where no one questioned Ella being Ally's actual child. Eli's own mother had had jet black hair. Eli's wasn't quite as dark as his mother's had been, but not as light as Elliot, Ally or Ella's.

Ella had turned on Friends, an old sitcom from the 1990's that Eli's mother had loved. The twins were still arguing, now about what they wanted for dinner.

"Oh, hey Jazzy," Ella said. Eli turned. Jazzy had made it to the bottom of the steps, and Eli was kind of surprised he hadn't heard her. Jazzy was usually loud, especially when she had the baby like she did now. But it seemed April was in a good mood for a change. That was fine by Eli.

"Hey guys," Jazzy replied, grinning. She'd seemed a whole lot friendlier to the entire family since her announcement that she would be moving soon, and likewise, the rest of the members of the Moon household were ecstatic to see her go. Eli was, at the very least. It wasn't that he didn't like Jazzy, per say, but…. Oh, who was he kidding? He couldn't stand her!

"Where are you two going?" Ella asked, sitting up. Eli was unhappy to note that she turned the TV off to focus all her attention on Jazzy and her baby. Of course, Ella was now April's official godmother, but Eli still thought she took her responsibility a bit far.

"The Murphys'," Jazzy said simply. "Going to discuss with Logan Murphy all the logistics and such about getting me a job, an apartment and a car. See you guys later!"

And she was gone as quickly as she'd come. Ella turned the TV back on, but she muttered in a voice so low, Eli figured she didn't think anyone could hear, "Maybe I should have a chat with Logan Murphy too."

"What was that?" Eli asked. He didn't ask many questions around this house, because he tended not to talk much at all, but he was genuinely curious, and wanted to make sure Ella didn't do or say anything to prevent Jazzy and her baby from leaving the house as quickly as they possibly could.

"Oh, nothing," Ella said, her attention still on the TV.

"Leave it alone, Ella," Eli said in a low voice. "She needs to live her life. She can't stay here forever."

Ella glanced over at him with a frown.

Eli shrugged. "You can't say I'm wrong here."

He started gathering his colored pencils and his sketch pad, and he stood up. Ella and the twins both looked up when he rose.

"Where are you going?" Emma asked. She was always the one willing to say whatever was on her mind.

"Upstairs," he said simply, and took the stairs two at a time.

* * *

When it was time for everyone to go to bed, Ella figured she'd better go up and talk to Eli. He hadn't come down from his and Evan's room since Jazzy left, not even for dinner.

The door was open when she got upstairs, but Ella knocked anyway. "Hey," she said softly, "can we talk?"

He shrugged. "It's your house. You can do whatever you want."

"It's your house too, Eli."

Again, he only shrugged.

Ella sighed and sat down on Evan's bed, facing her younger brother. "What did I do?" She asked.

"Huh?" Eli frowned at her. "What do you mean?"

"You didn't come down for dinner. I figured you were upset with me. So what did I do?"

"You didn't do anything." But his tone said otherwise.

"Eli…"

"Leave it alone Ella," he muttered, turned his head away. He picked up his pencil and started shading something in his sketchpad.

Ella got up and moved to sit on the edge of Eli's bed. He looked up, seemingly surprised. "If you know me at all, you'll know that I never leave anything alone, especially if it involves someone I care about."

"Why does that not surprise me?" Eli grumbled.

Ella gave him a small smile. "What's really going on? Is this about Jazzy?"

From the look on his face, Ella could tell she hit the nail on the head.

"Eli, they're leaving soon. Things won't be so hectic around here once they're in their own apartment."

"You don't want them to leave," he said. It wasn't a question.

Ella bit her lip. "No," she admitted, "I don't. Look, I'll admit it's hectic around here with Jazzy living here, but over the past few months she's become my friend, and April-"

"Don't pretend you want them here because you like Jazzy. You fell in love with her baby and you don't think you'll get to see her again if Jazzy moves out."

Well that hurt.

"Oh please," Ella said. "Do you honestly believe I think for one second that Jazzy leaving will keep me away from April? I'll be babysitting all the time, and you know Jazzy will come visit any time she doesn't want to cook. I realize we're not losing them forever. It'll just be a lot to get used to, not having them around, not getting up in the middle of the night when the baby cries."

For the kids, that would probably be a relief, but Ella had kind of enjoyed getting up with April when Jazzy couldn't handle it. It was like being a mom.

"Then why did you act like you were going to try and talk Logan out of helping Jazzy leave?" Eli demanded.

"What?" Ella had no idea what he was talking about.

"You said you needed to have a talk with Logan too, right after Jazzy said she was leaving to talk to him about getting her new place."

"Oh!" Ella laughed. "Oh, you thought I meant I wanted to talk him out of helping her? No, I just wanted to talk with him about how he was going about all of this. I wanted to make sure he found Jazzy a good job, and a good car, and an apartment in a safe neighborhood so she and April would be alright, staying there all by themselves."

"So you don't want to try and make them stay?"

Ella smiled down at him. "I'm going to miss them living here, but you were right. It's time for them to leave. They can't stay here forever. They need to live their own lives."

Very slowly, Eli smiled back.

* * *

 **Whew, so much for misunderstandings huh? Well, the last part of the chapter was a little iffy in my opinion, but I had to get it rolling. I hope you guys liked Eli. There'll be more on him to come, and the relationships he's built with the rest of the Moon family over the last few months, along with his sort-of not-friendship with Merilee Ingram (Dr. Murphy's granddaughter, for those of you who don't remember).**

 ***I don't own anything you recognize. "By the Angel" is a sort of way of saying "Oh my gosh!" in The Mortal Instruments, which, if you guys remember from the beginning of WOSA, is a book series that Emma and Ella love a lot.**

 **God bless you all!**

 **-Daddysgirl11**


	3. Friend or Stalker?

**meg (Guest): Awww thanks so much :) You made my day with your sweet review. And I honestly have no idea who the cover of the picture is of. I looked up the title of my story, and that was the first picture that pulled up, with the title basically already on it. I thought it was just beautiful, and the girl looked a lot like how I described Ella, so that's what I picked.**

 **Hey guys. I don't read very many fanfics anymore, but there's one that's stayed with me until it ended not very long ago. It was the last story in a trilogy, and it made me think of how sad I'll be to see this story go. But you never know….it may not actually be the end for us. We'll see.**

 **Please do me a favor, if you haven't already, and read When The Good Girl's Stuck With The Bad Boy; The Adventure of A Lifetime - The Good Girl, Bad Boy sequel; and Don't Let Me Go - A Good Girl Bad Boy Story all by Austin and Ally Go 1 Direction. They're amazing stories. I miss them so much, but I encourage you to read them. All of them are completed.**

 **I don't own Austin & Ally**

* * *

 **June 27, 2025 (Present)**

"Why do I need to go to another check up?" Eli grumbled, staring up at his older sister accusingly. "I just had one after Christmas."

"That was to check and see if you inherited the same heart problem that Emma and I have," Ella said, shrugging. "This one is to make sure you're all caught up on everything before you start school in August."

Eli gave her a hard look. "All caught up? What do you mean by that?"

Ella bit her lip.

"Ella…"

She didn't say anything, just turned her head as if she were reading a sign in the waiting room.

Eli swore under his breath. "I'm getting a shot today, aren't I?"

"Maybe," Ella mumbled.

Eli swore again, louder this time. Unfortunately, Ella heard him. "Eli, we talked about you cussing," she said sharply.

Eli had to physically restrain himself from rolling his eyes. "We talked about a lot of things. Well, you talked. I was just there."

Ella sighed. "What am I going to do with you?"

"You could let me live my life in peace and not get onto me for how I talk?" Eli suggested hopefully.

"Did your mother let you cuss?" Ella asked. Eli found this very rude.

"What's that to you?" He snapped.

She merely shrugged again. "I guess I was only curious."

Ella was always curious about everything Eli did. He found it both amusing and annoying how she tried to get him to spill his entire life's story to her. She wanted to know everything about him, everything she'd missed in the thirteen years neither of them had known they'd had a sibling. Eli, on the other hand, knew about as much about Ella that he really cared to know. She was nice enough, but he'd been an only child his entire life, and Ella was almost an adult. Adults were boring.

"Hey Eli!"

 _Oh no, not again_. Eli moaned, and threw his head back against the waiting room wall as Merilee Ingram came bouncing up to where he and Ella were sitting. He'd really been hoping to avoid this, her seeing him. Merilee always seemed to find him, wherever he was, when Eli came to this hospital. It had even come to the point where Eli had asked Austin and Ally, almost desperately, if there was a health clinic they could take him to for when he got sick. But they'd said no. Dr. Murphy, who was unfortunately Merilee's grandfather, was a _dear family friend_ of the Moons, and they wouldn't go to anyone but him and his family members for treatment.

Ella elbowed Eli in the side, so Eli pulled his head up and said, through clenched teeth, "Hi Merilee."

She beamed at him. Eli raised an eyebrow. There was no way someone could be this happy all the time, but it seemed like little miss sunshine and daisies over here could.

"Have you been having a good summer, Merilee?" Ella asked politely. Eli rolled his eyes.

Merilee smiled at her and shrugged. "I guess. There's not that much to do around the house but watch TV with the kids. I like when I get to come up here and bug the staff."

 _And the patients_ , Eli thought bitterly, wondering when she'd leave. Eli had about had all he could take of Merilee Ingram during the last five months they'd been in school together. They'd only had two classes together, but she'd relentlessly tried to befriend him all semester.

"Are there any new kids at your house?" Ella asked. Eli wasn't really paying much attention to their conversation. He knew, mostly from Ella and Ally talking about it around the house, that Merilee's mom, who was the oldest Murphy child, was a foster mom. Ally was constantly talking about how much she admired the woman, and Ella would be there, trying to tell Ally that she was just as saint-like. After all, Ally had taken in a three month old Ella when she'd only just turned eighteen, the pregnant teenaged Jazzy, when she already had three kids, and Eli himself, who had just lost his mother and didn't want to live with his deadbeat dad. A dad that happened to be Ally's brother.

Personally, Eli thought Ella was spot on about Ally's saint-likeness.

"...and then Malachi let the iguana out by accident, and Mom about had a stroke. Brayden was so mad at him."

"Eli Dawson," a nurse said, just as Merilee finished telling Ella whatever story she'd been telling her about her foster brothers.

"Thank God," Eli muttered, glad to be rid of his too cheery stalker.

Eli had already asked Ella to stay in the waiting room when he went back, so she was stuck talking to Merilee for a while longer. Eli was secretly glad. Let her annoy someone else for a change.

"Hi, my name's Elise Murphy," said the nurse. She had short brown hair and looked a lot like the Alice chick from Emma's Twilight movies. Eli only knew this because he happened to think that chick was incredibly hot.

"Murphy?" Eli raised an eyebrow. "Which one are you then?"

Elise looked stunned for a moment, but then glanced in the waiting room, apparently spotting Merilee and Ella talking in the corner. "Oh, I see you've met my niece. I'm the second youngest Murphy kid, youngest daughter."

Eli nodded. He wasn't really interested in the conversation, but he wanted to keep Elise Murphy talking. She had beautiful full lips, and her voice was like honey.

He started walking in the direction she'd pointed, and Elise hurried to catch up.

"Followed in your parents' footsteps then? Why just a nurse and not a doctor?"

Elise shrugged. "I liked nursing better. My parents are fine with it."

Eli sighed. He watched Elise write a few things down on his chart, and then she grabbed the ear thermometer. "So how do you know my niece?" Elise asked conversationally as she took his temperature.

"From school," Eli muttered subdued. He thought of the first time he'd met Merilee Ingram. It had been in this very hospital…

* * *

 **January 3, 2025**

Ella was sitting up straight in the stiff hospital gown he'd been forced to wear, which was very uncomfortable. His feet were swinging off the side of the hospital bed. He was waiting for his test results to see if he had some genetic heart disease called SVT. Ella and Emma were in the waiting room with Ally, but unlike their mother, the girls were about to worry themselves to death, fearing they'd have something to do with it if Eli had the same heart problem as they did (even though Emma was younger than him and would have absolutely nothing to do with it; if anything, it'd be the other way around).

Eli had to wonder why they were so upset if their heart problem was as harmless as they claimed it was.

Suddenly the door opened, and a girl's voice said, "Nana, are you in h—"

She stopped speaking abruptly, and Eli could see the person behind the voice now. She was blonde...very blonde. Her hair was longer and more curly than Emma's, and about a shade or two lighter. Eli couldn't see the girl's eyes from here, but there was no doubt she was pretty. She looked about his age, and Eli was almost interested to see what could come of this conversation.

That was until the girl opened her mouth.

"Oh, hi! You're not my grandmother." She giggled, and moved toward the counter where a nurse had set Eli's medical file. She glanced at it, and her eyes lit up. "Eli Dawson, huh? I've heard about you. Living with the Moons, right? Austin and Ally are great, and I suppose their kids are nice enough. My name's Merilee, by the way. I'm the Murphys' granddaughter."

She said all of this very quickly, and without seeming to take a breath. And she was still smiling at him. Eli desperately wished this Merilee girl would step away from his medical records. It seemed an incredible violation of his privacy, forgetting the fact that it was also highly illegal for her to be looking at them.

"Merilee Annabeth Ingram, what the devil do you think you're doing young lady?"

Merilee's head snapped up just as Eli's did. They both looked toward the door where a lady with shoulder-length grayish-white hair stood, hands on her hips and a motherly glare on her face.

Merilee's eyes were wide as she stared at the woman, and she looked truly terrified. "N-Nana…"

Eli could only assume this was Linda Murphy, Merilee's grandmother and the woman who was supposed to give him test results.

"I asked her to see if they put that I was allergic to Cephalexin," Eli found himself saying. Merilee turned toward him with wide, grateful eyes. "I think the nurse forgot to ask, and I didn't know if Ally knew to put it in my paperwork."

He had no idea why he was lying for this girl who had very obviously been looking through his medical files, like Eli was sure her grandmother suspected. And while it was true that the nurse didn't ask what medicines Eli was allergic to, he had made absolute certain that Ally had written that in his paperwork before he went back.

Linda Murphy still looked skeptically at her granddaughter, but she nodded as if she accepted Eli's excuse. "Okay," she said, "but Merilee should know better than to look at a patient's file, shouldn't you?" She directed her attention back to her trembling granddaughter.

"Yes ma'am," Merilee mumbled. "I'm sorry Nana. I won't do it again. I didn't think."

"That's obvious," Lina Murphy muttered, then she turned to Eli with a smile. "Well, young man, looks like your test results are in." She paused, looking over her shoulder at Merilee. "You can go now, darling."

Merilee bit the corner of her lip in a tentative way. She gave Eli a small smile (which he figured was a silent thanks) before slipping out of the room.

* * *

 **January 6, 2025**

Eli's test results had come back negative, but that didn't stop the girls from worrying about him in every other aspect of his life. At least Evan had remained relatively distant. To that kid, it was almost as if Eli didn't exist at all, despite the fact that they shared a room together. It made them pretty good roommates, actually.

Ella fretted over Eli's clothes and hair, and she kept going over the school map and his class schedule with him. Emma rummaged through his backpack to make sure he had his lunch ("You don't eat nearly enough!"), and every pen, pencil and highlighter he might need, among other things. Obviously, it was his first day at his new school.

"Hi Emma," someone said suddenly. "Who's your new friend?"

Emma stopped looking through Eli's backpack at once and glanced up. "Oh, hey Ali. This is my cousin Eli. It's a long story. I'll tell you later."

She said the last part in a whisper, but Eli still heard her. He rolled his eyes.

"He's cute," he heard Emma's friend, Alli, whisper back.

Eli shot a glare at Emma, and she somehow understood immediately. "I wouldn't go there Al," Emma mumbled. "He's not in a good place to be dating. Besides, I have reason to believe Caleb Johnson has a thing for you."

"Oh my gosh, are you serious!?"

Sighing in relief, Eli turned and marched in the general direction he knew his locker would be. Ella followed.

"You don't have to follow me, I'll be fine," Eli grumbled to her.

"I know." She shrugged, and was about to say something else when, thank God, Toby and two of her other friends appeared. "Oh, I gotta go Eli. Have a great first day! Text me if you need me!"

Eli ignored her completely. It took several more minutes, but he made it to his first class before the bell rang.

"Hi!" A chipper voice said from beside him.

Eli turned...and groaned. Merilee, the granddaughter of his doctor from last week, was sitting in the desk beside him. She was wearing bright yellow. Everything was yellow about her (minus her blue jeans). Her shirt, her headband, her shoes...even her bag. And her blonde hair was close enough to yellow. And, as if she needed to emphasise her cheerfulness even more, her yellow t-shirt was one of those inspirational ones that said, "Smile".

Eli, whose wardrobe consisted of mostly black, felt vaguely nauseous. He didn't reply, but that didn't keep the girl from talking to him.

"Sorry I didn't get the chance to thank you the other day," she said happily. "You saved me at least three weeks' worth of groundings. Plus, my mom would've been so disappointed."

"Uh huh." That's about as much of a response as she was likely to get from him.

"So how'd you end up with Austin and Ally?" Merilee asked. "Doesn't your dad live around here? I'd have thought you'd want to live with him."

Eli could feel the anger, always so uncontrollable, rise up in him. He balled his hands up into fists. "You thought wrong, then."

"Something wrong with your dad?"

"Yeah." Eli let out a humorless laugh. "He's a total—"

Eli said a very nasty word he was sure would astonish her.

Merilee paused. She seemed minutely surprised, but not at all put off by his bad mood. "Well that sucks," she said. "Good thing there's nice people willing to take kids in. My mom's into fostering and she really respects Ally for what she did for you, and for Ella when she was a baby."

"Good for her," Eli mumbled. He was sure Merilee's mom was a nice lady, but her daughter was getting on his last nerve.

"It's nice of Ally to take in a pregnant teenager, too. I like Jazzy. Met her yesterday. She's very interesting."

What's so interesting about a girl who got knocked up and ended up living in a stranger's attic? A famous stranger at that. Jazzy was nothing but a gold digger, and several other unprintable words, Eli was sure.

But yeah, it was sure _nice_ of Ally to take her in. Ally was always _nice_.

"Let me see your schedule." Merilee had snatched it out of his hands before Eli had even had a chance to reply. "Ooh, we have two classes together! This is going to be so much fun!"

 _Yeah,_ Eli thought dejectedly. _Fun._

* * *

 **(Back to Present)**

Ever since then, Merilee had tried and tried to become his friend. And no matter how many times Eli rebuked her, or how rude he acted toward her, she hadn't shut up. She was persistent, he'd give her that.

"How can someone always be so happy?" Eli wondered aloud, as Elise Murphy put the blood pressure cuff around his arm.

Elise paused. "Maybe you don't know her whole story." She hesitated again. "Listen, I won't say anything on this because it's a private matter. But get to know her before you judge her too harshly, alright? No one's happy all the time."

Eli let that cryptic message hang in the air as Elise finished her ministrations.

* * *

Merilee stumbled home, waving wildly at her uncle when he dropped her off. Logan acknowledged her with the flick of his hand in a half salute as he drove away, and Merilee had to laugh. He was a crack up, despite not appearing to have much personality at face value to strangers.

"Mom, you home?" Merilee called when she shut the front door behind her.

She was disappointed, however, to hear her other uncle's voice in reply. "Nope, just me kiddo."

"Oh, hey Uncle Josh." Merilee forced a fake smile on her face. She'd been hoping to see her mom tonight.

"How you been, runt?" He laughed, pulling her into a side hug.

"Fine, fine. I'm the only one allowed out of the house, remember?" She grinned at him, this time for real. "Do you know when my mom will be home?"

"Can't say I do." Josh ran a hand across his face, where a stubble of beard growth was obvious. He never could remember to shave in the mornings. "Charlotte's here, though. She's out back with the little ones and Bray's up in his room doing homework."

Charlotte was Josh's girlfriend, and she was absolutely amazing. The kids loved her to death, and Merilee could honestly say she did too. She was the first girlfriend one of her uncles had ever brought home that Merilee could honestly say she liked at all. Her aunts had wonderful taste. Lexi had been married several years now, with two little kids of her own, and Elise was engaged to this great guy, Bill, who went out of his way to impress Merilee, though he hadn't needed to.

"Alright. I'm gonna go see if Bray needs any help with homework before starting dinner. You can tell Charlotte and the kids it'll be ready in about an hour, hour and a half tops."

"Charlotte can cook, Mer," Josh reminded her gently.

"No sirry, no guest at this house will lift a finger, especially not sweet Charlotte, the only woman in the world not related to us that can handle those rascals."

They both laughed at that. Charlotte just loved Malachi and Harper, respectively seven and eight years old, but no one could see how she could so easily manage them. It had to be a natural born talent.

"We could order Chinese then?" Josh suggested. "My treat. I know how much Malachi loves it."

He did, and so did Merilee, but Harper hated it and Brayden was allergic.

"You'd do better with hot dogs, or maybe pizza if you're ordering," Merilee told him hesitantly.

"Oh, right!" Josh snapped his fingers, seeming to just remember what was wrong with his plan. "Chinese is a no go for Bray and Harper. Got it. That's stored in my brain."

Merilee headed towards the stairs, rolling her eyes. "Try storing it in the notes on your phone. Your brain malfunctions too easily."

"Very funny Mer-bear!"

"Don't call me that!"

She could hear her uncle's laughter until she was all the way up the stairs and standing in Brayden's doorway. He and Malachi shared a room. They always had. It was a four bedroom house, but the boys were brothers, and Brayden didn't like to let his baby brother, whom he'd cared for on his own until he was eight, out of his sight. He was easing up on that a bit now, after four years of being with the Ingram/Murphy family. He'd let Jenna—Merilee's mom—and her parents and siblings watch his little brother in a separate room. And he was okay with Jenna taking him out for ice cream or a checkup when he wasn't there too. But past that, the boys were attached at the hip.

It was understandable, in a way, even if Malachi was somewhat exasperated by the behavior now that he was seven years old. The two had had a hard early life. But Merilee didn't like to think about that.

Anyways, with the boys living together, it left a room open for any other foster kids staying at the house. And that's how Harper had gotten her own room. Jenna didn't take in many more stragglers, not having the time or the room, but when she did she'd have a girl either share a room with Harper or Merilee, or have Harper go sleep in Merilee's room until the guest left. Same with a boy. They either slept with Brayden and Malachi, or in Harper's room while Harper hiked it over to Merilee's. It was a good system, but it didn't really work when the occasional emergency baby or toddler showed up. Jenna mostly took in school age children, and usually just elementary age, but if there was a special case, she said she always had room in her house and heart for more.

"Hey Bray," Merilee said now, pushing into her foster brother's room without knocking. "Whatcha up to?"

"Not homework."

Merilee laughed. That was apparent, to anyone who knew Brayden as well as she did (which was not many people). Currently, he was watching Animal Planet, but he had some weird nonfiction book sitting at the end of his bed, in case Josh walked in she presumed. The book was not for school; Brayden wasn't a big fan of reading his school books, though he did when he was forced to. He loved nonfiction books, especially ones about animals and reptiles. Merilee found it disgusting, but if it interested him, to each his own, she supposed.

She flopped down on Malachi's bed, fiddling idly with one of his stuffed animals. It was a lizard, so she put it down. "Josh thinks you're doing homework."

"I didn't tell him I was. He just assumed. When he asked what I was doing, I held up my book. It's not a lie if you don't say anything."

"I taught you well." She grinned, amused at herself. "You know when Mom's gonna be home?"

The kids had no problem calling Jenna their mother. Depending on their mood, they swapped between "Mom," "Mama," and "Jenna." Merilee didn't mind. She loved all three of them as if they were here real siblings, despite the fact that they annoyed the heck out of her sometimes.

"I dunno." He shrugged. "She's working 's all I know."

"Yeah," Merilee sighed, "same here."

She wasn't worried about her mom. She never worried about her mom unless Jenna just didn't call whoever was watching the kids when she was gonna be home late. She was always working. Sometimes Merilee felt like she knew her aunts and uncles better than her own mother, but that wasn't Jenna's fault. She had to work, to make money to pay for the mortgage and bills on her own, and all the kids' needs. The state paid her to take care of the three kids that weren't her own, of course, but it wasn't enough to supply for all their needs and wants.

"Where've you been all day?" Brayden asked casually, not taking his eyes off the TV. "Josh tried to make us salami sandwiches. No one even knew what that was. 'Cept me, and I definitely didn't want it."

"He was trying to be nice," Merilee told him halfheartedly. Josh may've been amazing at practically everything he did, but he sucked at fixing food. Merilee didn't know how he survived before Charlotte.

"You didn't answer my question."

"You distracted me with the salomi business."

"Mer."

"I was at the hospital."

Brayden frowned and turned to look at her. "Again? You practically live there. Jenna can't see you at work, you know."

"Mom can see me if she dang well pleases. Her parents practically run that place." In fact, Merilee's Pawpaw had just been named chief of surgeries, and Nana was soon to be promoted to the head of the women and children's center.

"They don't run her part," Brayden reminded her unnecessarily.

"Shut up."

He shrugged again, turning his attention back to whatever stupid documentary he'd been watching. "You brought it up."

"Kids, I'm home!"

Excitement coursing through her, Merilee sat up grinning. "Mom!" She bolted for the door, but paused, leaning back in to look at her foster brother. "You comin'?"

"In a minute." Brayden's attention was glued to the TV.

Merilee rolled her eyes, and dashed down the stairs. "Mom!" She said again. Harper and Malachi had already tackled Jenna in a hug, but Merilee was next.

"What's with all the love going around?" Jenna laughed.

"Just missed you," Merilee mumbled, still pressed up against her mom, whom she was almost as tall as now.

"Yeah," Harper agreed. "We missed you bunches Mom."

Jenna beamed at little Harper, and Merilee gave her mother a knowing look. It pleased Jenna so much, having these kids call her their mother.

"Mama, can we have something besides pizza for dinner?" Malachi asked, pouting.

She grinned down at him, and ruffled his hair. "Sure thing, kiddo. Where's your uncle?"

"Sticking his tongue down his girlfriend's throat." Harper giggled.

"Harper!" Jenna laughed. Harper was an eccentric little thing. When Harper was first put into the care of the Ingrams, she was fairly quiet. She cried a lot and was scared of everything because she'd been horribly abused by her father and her mother was a drug addict. But it wasn't long after moving in that Harper had realized she actually had freedom, and that no one in this house was going to hurt her. And boy did Harper take full advantage of that. She pulls Malachi into most of her schemes now, which is hilarious considering how well behaved he was for a three year old when he first got there. Harper is extremely tricky and devious. And very stubborn. She breaks things all the time, spills anything the family gives her to eat or drink, and is constantly tripping over her own feet, but they love her anyway. It was obvious that she hungered for attention, but she was the baby girl of the family and everyone loved her to death.

Brayden chose that moment to come bounding down the stairs. "She's not wrong," he said, his voice deadly serious. If Merilee hadn't known him for years now, she wouldn't be able to tell he was trying hard not to laugh. "I can see 'em from my window upstairs."

Jenna shook her head. "I am ashamed. That boy…"

"Oh, leave him alone," Merilee said. She couldn't be unhappy now that her mom was home. She could afford to be generous to her uncle now. "He's in love."

"He's a youth pastor." Jenna rolled her eyes, obviously exasperated by her little brother, but she was smiling. "Alright kids, who wants spaghetti?"

They all cheered. There was nothing like Jenna Ingram's homemade spaghetti.

The little ones ran to the kitchen, with Brayden following a little slower. Merilee stayed back and hugged her mother once more. "I missed you," she mumbled again.

Her mother hugged her back tightly. "Well I missed you too baby. What's all this about?"

Merilee shrugged. "Nothing. Just didn't know when you'd be home."

Jenna bit her lip, but let the comment slide. "What'd you do today?"

"Went to the hospital." Her mom gave her a look, so Merilee said quickly, "I wanted to see Nana and Pawpaw. Eli was there, though."

Her mother grinned suddenly. "And how is the famous Eli, whom I've never met?"

"He's fine. He was getting a check-up and being totally pissy about it."

"Merilee." Her mom laughed. Merilee knew Jenna only reprimanded her for saying stuff like that out of habit. When she was around eleven or twelve, Jenna had stopped caring so much what Merilee said as long as she wasn't rude to someone and she didn't say any actual cuss words.

"He left pretty quickly with Aunt Elise to get his check up. I stayed and talked with Ella for a while."

"Oh yeah? How was that?"

"Fine." Merilee shrugged indifferently. Her mom snorted.

"Just a couple months ago you hated the sight of Ella Dawson," Jenna pointed out.

"I did not!" Merilee sounded indignant, but she couldn't keep a straight face. Not for her mom. "Okay….Maybe I did, just a bit. But that's only because I could tell how in love Toby was with her. It had nothing to do with who she was, you know….as a person."

Merilee felt ashamed by this admission. She'd hated Ella Dawson Moon for a long time for no real reason at all. It wasn't like Toby Bentley would've ever went for her anyway. Merilee still sort of had a crush on him, but she didn't delude herself into thinking she could ever come between what Toby and Ella have.

"You've liked that boy for as long as I can remember," Jenna laughed, as they entered the kitchen together. The kids already were up in the cabinets, getting down the spaghetti supplies. "What changed?"

 _Who changed? would be a more valid question_ , Merilee thought.

Eli Dawson had changed everything.

Merilee said, "Oh, nothing."

* * *

 **Not sure on how I ended this chapter, but I had it all figured out up to Harper's description, and after that trying to end it was giving me grief so here we are. Hopefully my other chapters will be up sooner than this one was, because I lost my notebook for this one, to be honest. I found it, and that's the only reason I was able to type it up.**

 **Musicgirl15r5 came up with all the Murphy/Ingram characters except for Merilee Ingram, Logan Murphy, Dr. Murphy and Linda Murphy. Elise Murphy was invented by R5AAFan. You'll meet the rest of the Murphy/Ingram crew soon enough.**

 ***I don't own anything you might recognize**

 **God bless you all!**

 **-Daddysgirl11**


	4. The Problem With 'It'

**Hey guys, I know the show's over and this series is kind of long so it's probably less popular by now, but can we try for a few more reviews? Pretty please, with sugar on top?**

 **I don't own Austin & Ally**

* * *

 **June 27, 2025**

Jace Miller shut the front door of the Bentleys' home as softly as he could, a bouquet of flowers in his hands. Claire Bentley smiled at him from the couch, and Toby gave him an appreciative look as he moved out of the way to let him by. They both knew who the flowers were for and why, and Jace felt a surge of relief go through him at Alyssa's mother and brother figures' obvious approval.

"Good afternoon Mrs. Bentley, Toby," he said politely. "Is Alyssa home?"

"She is." Toby smirked, his arms crossed over his chest. He was a pretty big kid to only be seventeen, almost as tall as Jace himself.

"She's in her room," Claire told him. "It's just down the hall. First door on your right."

Jace nodded, grateful, but he hesitated. "Can I…?"

"Go right ahead." Claire looked positively delighted. It was a nice sight, but also sort of sad. She had a scarf wrapped around her head, and Jace knew it was hiding her constantly diminishing hair. She had dark circles under her eyes, and she looked absolutely exhausted. But at least she looked happy.

Jace smiled back at her, and made his way towards the hallway in the direction Claire had pointed. He opened Alyssa's door quietly, and noticed the still figure lying on the bed. She was asleep. At two o'clock in the afternoon. This made Jace's mouth quirked up a bit.

He set the flowers on Alyssa's dresser, and then sat on the corner of her bed. Watching her sleep, he could see all the worry and strain that usually stayed on her face had melted away, and she looked very young and innocent. It reminded him of the first time they'd met, back in high school when her sister had just started dating his best friend. They were merely acquaintances at the time, but Jace had always found her cute.

"Alyssa," he said softly, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Lys—"

She suddenly jumped up, a blood curling scream ripping from her throat. Her hands flew to her stomach, protectively covering her pregnant belly.

"WHAT'S GOING ON?" Claire shrieked from the living room, and Toby was in the doorway immediately, looking panicked, until he saw that his big sister was alright.

"Lys," he said, sounding relieved. He came into the room and grabbed her hand, wrapping his other arm around her shoulder. Alyssa pressed her face in her little brother's chest.

"It's okay Mom!" He called down the hall. "She just got startled."

Alyssa let out a small sob, and Jace felt like the most awful person in the world. He slowly backed out of the room, and when he was sure he was out of sight, bolted for the door.

"Oh, Jace honey, don't go!" Claire called after him. He'd already made it outside, before Toby's voice called him back.

"Hey Miller, come back here!" He called. "She wants to see you."

Jace stopped dead in his tracks.

Toby raised an eyebrow. "Did you hear me? My sister wants to see you. And if my sister wants to see you, she will. Now get back in my house before I have to haul your butt in there myself."

Jace took the few cautious steps back into the house. Alyssa was standing in the living room, holding Claire's hand. She was still breathing hard, but looked otherwise fine.

"Sorry." She grimmaced. "I...didn't realize it was you."

"'S'okay," he said, though he was sure his eyes still held the panic he felt from seeing her jump up in such alarm and terror.

"I believe you had flowers?" Toby prompted. Claire shot her son a look, and he rolled his eyes, leaving the room. "I'll just be in my room."

"Mhm," Claire muttered, then called down the hall after him, "Tell Ella I said hi when you call."

Alyssa giggled when Toby slammed his door shut at his mother's words. "You wanna go to my room?" She asked Jace.

He nodded stiffly, still afraid to make the wrong move and send her into a fit again. Her eyes were still red.

He followed her back into her bedroom, and picked up the flowers he'd left on her dresser. "Happy Birthday," he muttered weakly.

She gave him a half-hearted smile. "Thanks," she said, then laughed a little. "Guess that wasn't the way you pictured handing me these."

"Not really," he admitted, "but that's okay. Kill the cliche, as they say."

Alyssa raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you quoting our twelfth grade English teacher?"

He felt his face heat up. So she remembered that. "Maybe."

She laughed. "Come sit." She patted the space next to her on the bed. "I'm okay now. I promise I won't bite."

He sat down hesitantly. "Nice room," he observed.

It was a very plain looking room, with light purple walls and a white and black bedspread. There was a large mirror on the wall behind her dresser, and a chest of drawers on the other side of the room with five or six spelling bee trophies. The only thing in the room that really suggested she still lived there, however, appeared to be a corkboard full of family photos. There were pictures of Toby and his girlfriend, Ella, together, through their varying ages; pictures of Alyssa with her older brother; ones with her and her sister, who was her best friend in the entire world; ones where she was messing up Toby's hair or smashing a pie in his face; and there were pictures of her and her older brother when they were very small, standing with a couple that had to be their real parents.

And then there were the wedding pictures. Jace smiled and stood, reaching for one in particular. It was of just him and Alyssa, the only picture that Jace appeared to be in on this board, minus the picture of the whole wedding party. Since Alyssa had been the maid of honor at Kelsey and Hunter's wedding, and Jace the best man, the photographer had insisted they get a picture of just the two of them.

"I like this picture," he said, distracted. "Why didn't I get a copy?"

Alyssa smiled slightly and came to stand beside him. "Probably because Hunter's a doofus and didn't hand out the ones to his friends and family that Kelsey told him to. She got a call a couple months back from Hunter's grandmother about not getting a single picture of the wedding. I wouldn't be too offended he didn't give you any."

"I'll be sure to let him know he owes me some."

Alyssa gently took the photo from his hands and put it back on her corkboard. "I'm really sorry about earlier," she said again.

"That's okay." He paused. "If you don't mind my asking….what set you off?"

She shrugged. "I dunno. It could be a little PTSD. Aunt Claire keeps trying to get my to see a shrink about….well, about what happened. But I don't want to. I want to deal with it myself."

"You shouldn't have to do that," Jace said, reaching for her hand, but she pulled away.

"I'm sorry," she said again. "I don't know what's wrong with me. I guess it's just that….when things surprise me like that, like you coming in here when I wasn't expecting you….I think it's _him_ again."

She shivered involuntarily when she said _him_. Alyssa didn't even know her attacker's name, but she did know he was still walking the streets. Jace knew she blamed herself for this, could see it in her eyes when she was thinking about it. The man hadn't been caught, because she was too scared to go to the police after she'd been assaulted, and she didn't go to a hospital either. She hadn't sought help from anyone, or even told anyone what had happened, until things had gotten way out of hand with a found pregnancy test that her family thought belonged to Ella Moon, Alyssa's younger brother's girlfriend.

Jace knew he couldn't promise that the man would never find her again, as much as he wished he could.

"Alyssa," he said softly. "Look at me."

She turned her face towards him, and he could see fresh tears shining in her eyes.

"Don't cry," he whispered, brushing a knuckle against her cheek. "There's people here for you. Your family, your friends….me. I'm here for you. You don't have to be alone again. You don't have to let what that….what that awful man did to you destroy you."

"Maybe it already did," she whispered.

"No." Jace stood up. "I refuse to believe that." He held out a hand to her. "Why don't you let me take you somewhere so you can see your life's not totally over?"

Alyssa hesitated, her eyes indecisive.

"I don't know…"

They'd been hovering between friends and something else for a while now, even before everything had started going wrong for her. When things had taken a turn for the worst, Jace had worked extra hard to rebuild what they'd started, nearly from scratch. He'd settled for just being her friend and being there for her. But she knew what he was asking today. He was asking for her to take a step and cross the invisible line between friendship and something more.

"Well it is _your_ birthday…" He trailed off. "You're free to do whatever you wish, of course."

She bit her lip, and Jace lowered his hand, his expression crestfallen. He knew what she was going to say before the words left her lips.

"I'm sorry Jace," she whispered. "Maybe another time?"

"Yeah," he said, trying to sound positive, but he couldn't exactly say he believed her when she said this. "Next time."

And he ducked out of her room before she had the chance to say anything else.

* * *

Alyssa felt terrible. How could she have done that to Jace?

Of course, under any normal circumstances, she'd have loved to have accepted his invitation. She'd always been shy, but she wouldn't turn her nose up to an amazing guy she liked, asking her out on a date. But things were different now.

"Lys?"

She looked up, expecting Toby or Aunt Claire, but it was Kelsey.

"Oh, hey Kels," Alyssa said tentatively. "When did you get here?"

"A few minutes ago." Kelsey shrugged. "Hunter got a weird phone call from Jace, and I figured that could only have something to do with you. So what happened?"

Alyssa sighed deeply. "I honestly have no idea, Kels. I just couldn't say yes to him."

"About what?" Kelsey asked, so casually that Alyssa knew she'd already heard. If not from Hunter and Jace's conversation, then from her mom or their brother.

Alyssa glanced involuntarily at the flowers on her dresser. They were beautiful; purple lilacs, her favorite flower and color. She didn't remember ever telling him what her favorite flower was, but could assume where he'd learned the information considering her best friend/sister was married to Jace's best friend.

"Jace sort of asked me on a date," Alyssa admitted. Kelsey looked hopeful, so Alyssa added quickly, "But I said no."

Crestfallen. "Why would you do that?" Kelsey demanded. "You like him, don't you?"

"Of course I do." Alyssa groaned and laid back on her bed, clutching a stuffed bear Uncle Daryl had given her that morning for her birthday before he'd left for work. He'd said that wasn't all she was getting, but he couldn't leave on her birthday without giving her _something_.

Kelsey leaned back beside her, and they laid there, staring up at Alyssa's ceiling that used to be shared by the both of them. They had been so similar when they were younger, but also very different in interests. But they'd both agreed that it'd be cool to have glow in the dark stars on their ceiling. They'd also split the colors of their room down the middle. Kelsey's half had been blue, and Alyssa's, purple of course. After Kelsey had left, however, Alyssa had painted it entirely purple.

"What's the problem then?" Kelsey asked eventually.

Alyssa shrugged, and scooted over so her head rested on her sister's shoulder. "Not ready, I guess."

Kelsey huffed. "If you're not ready by now, when you have a sweet thing like Jace Miller wanting to be with you, you'll never be ready Alyssa Danielle West."

"I regret ever telling you my middle name."

Kelsey, however, would not be sidetracked. "I'm serious Lys. You need to let your guard down just a little."

"So do you," Alyssa told her meaningfully.

Kelsey gave her a dark look. "I've already told you why I refuse to do what you want."

Alyssa sighed. A few weeks after everyone had found out she was pregnant, Alyssa had taken Kelsey and Hunter aside, and asked them to raise her baby. She would never abort a child, and she didn't want to put him or her up for adoption, but she knew she couldn't raise a child on her own. She was going to college; she didn't have a job! And though Uncle Daryl and Aunt Claire said they'd offer assistance in any way she needed, Alyssa couldn't do that, not with Aunt Claire so sick. They needed all the money they could get. And Porter had agreed to the same thing, but he and Maddie had three kids of their own to take care of.

So, Alyssa's immediate response was to go to her sister, who was her best friend in the entire world. She'd asked Kelsey to take her baby after he or she was born, and raise it as her own. That way, Alyssa could still be there as a sort of aunt figure, but not have to have all the responsibilities.

What she hadn't told Kelsey, though she was sure her sister knew already, was that Alyssa didn't want to raise this baby at all. She didn't want kids. She knew she'd be a horrible mother. Her own mother had been amazing, and so had Aunt Claire, but Alyssa always found herself in trouble, and she would never put that on a child. No matter where that child came from.

And, okay, she did have to admit that she sort of resented her baby, for where it came from. She hated the man who did this to her, and she didn't want to watch a child grow up that had all of his genes.

"I don't know why you're being so stubborn about this," Kelsey continued. "It's a wonderful thing, being a mother. I wouldn't trade it for the world."

"And that's why you should be the one to raise my baby," Alyssa stressed. "If this is about money, I'll help in every way I can—"

"It's not about the money," Kelsey cut her off angrily. "I don't care about the money. I'd have ten kids in my house right now if I could, but I'm doing just fine with Mia, thank you very much."

Alyssa put the stuffed bear over her face. "I still don't see why you won't take my baby."

"Humor me," Kelsey said in a dry tone. "I know you think you hate your baby right now—No, listen to me, I know what I'm talking about." For Alyssa had tried to protest. "I know you hate everything your baby represents right now, and you hate the jerk that put you in this position. I don't blame you for that. But I won't take your baby, because I know you'll want him or her back. It may not be the day you give birth, although I don't personally see how it couldn't…. But you will want your baby back. You'll have wanted the chance to raise your baby."

"No I won't."

Kelsey sighed. "I'll tell you something now, that I hadn't planned on telling you before. Hunter and I have been talking—"

Alyssa sat up, looking extremely hopeful.

"Let me finish!" Kelsey chastised her. "Anyway, we've been talking, and we agreed that if you're still adamant about this after the baby's born, maybe after a couple months…"

Alyssa gave her a look.

"Or weeks," Kelsey amended. "Maybe, if after a given amount of time you have with your baby, you decide you still want us to raise it, we will."

Alyssa squealed in delight and threw her arms around her sister's neck. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Kelsye pushed her away and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, but I'm still not planning on raising your baby, I hope you know. I have absolute faith that you'll change your mind."

"Is this why you came here?" Alyssa asked with mock-severity. She was too happy right now to be serious.

"No." Kelsey sat up again. "I came here to get you ready for your date with Jace tonight."

Alyssa looked at her, dumbfounded. "I don't have a date with Jace tonight. I told him no."

Kelsey grinned, a very wicked grin that Alyssa was oh so familiar with from their teenage years. "Ah, but you see, I happen to know your password, and your phone was conveniently left out in the living room…."

Alyssa groaned. "You didn't."

"I did. Now get up. We're getting you ready for your date. And hey, if it doesn't work out, you'll always be friends. Jace seemed really excited when he replied to your—I mean _my_ —text."

Alyssa groaned again. "I'm going to murder you, dear sister."

"Okay, but wait until Ella gets here at least. She wanted to help."

"Correction: I'm going to murder you both."

* * *

"And there you go!" Ella seemed very proud of herself as she finished weaving the last purple flower into Alyssa's hair.

Alyssa, however, was glaring at her, and at her sister. Kelsey was floating about her with makeup brushes and lip gloss.

"I thought this was supposed to be _my_ birthday," Alyssa grumbled. "How is this fun for me?"

"You'll thank us later," Ella chirped. She seemed to be in a very good mood. "Just be thankful I convinced Merilee Ingram not to come over. She was talking to me when I got your phone call, and wanted to help so badly she couldn't stand it. And man can that kid talk. But luckily, Eli got out then and she started bugging him. You got a get-out-of-jail-free card there."

Alyssa shrugged, allowing this. Merilee, who just happened to be the Bentleys' neighbor, was a big time pest, though Alyssa knew she meant well. If she'd been here, that only would've made this experience a thousand times worse.

Of course, it didn't help that Toby was sitting on the floor against the wall, making unhelpful suggestions while Kelsey and his girlfriend dressed Alyssa up like a Barbie doll.

"Come on Ells, the kid seems alright to me." Toby grinned.

Ella rolled her eyes. "That's because she doesn't talk to you. She has too big a crush on you to get three words out."

"What can I say? I'm irresistible."

"Alyssa, may I throw your bear at your brother?"

"You're encouraged to."

Ella grinned, and Toby let out a yelp when the bear hit him in the face, even though he'd ducked. "Hey!" He exclaimed. "That's not fair!"

"You don't get to talk about unfair," Alyssa grumbled. "Not until they do this to you on your birthday."

"That is an excellent idea, sister," Kelsey decided.

"Quite excellent," Ella agreed. They shared a grin. Toby, on the floor, looked mildly alarmed for a second, and then shrugged.

"Actually," he laughed, "that sounds like it'd be fun. Or interesting, at the very least. As long as I'm with my girl."

All three of the girls rolled their eyes, but Ella was blushing slightly.

A knock sounded on Alyssa's bedroom door. "Anyone home?"

Jace. Alyssa let out a breath. Oh gosh. She could do this. Not that she wanted to….Well, that was sort of a lie. She wanted to, be she didn't feel anywhere near ready.

"We're all in here," Ella practically sang. Done with her part of Alyssa's makeover, she flounced over to where Toby was sitting cross-legged on the floor and plopped down in his lap. Toby grunted in surprise, but immediately wrapped his arms around her body. Ella laid her head on his chest, looking content.

Alyssa bit her lip. Was that not the kind of love she'd always wanted? Was that not what her brother, sister and hopefully future sister-in-law were trying to help her attain?

She sighed. "Thanks guys," she mumbled as she stood up (in four inch heels, mind you), and stumbled, causing the other three to laugh.

She moved forward to open the door. There Jace Miller stood in all his blond, beautiful glory. His brown eyes looked like honey while he was wearing the black suit and tie.

"Nice," Alyssa commented, before she could stop herself.

"Nice doesn't begin to explain that," she heard Ella mutter, and Toby's outraged whispered response.

Jace beamed at Alyssa, though, paying no heed to the teenagers or her sister. "Are you ready to go?"

"Sure." Alyssa took his offered arm, and sent one last glare at the three idiots in her bedroom before shutting the door behind her. "Where are we going?"

"Do you like the opera?"

Alyssa tried not to let her panic show. She absolutely _hated_ opera music.

Jace, however, picked up on her reaction, and grinned. "No? Good, because that's not where we're going."

"Where's Aunt Claire?" Alyssa asked, relieved. She'd noticed Claire hadn't come to put in her two cents on Alyssa's makeover, and she wasn't in the living room either.

"I think she's helping Daryl with something. I don't think they're still here." He said this a little too casually, as if he knew exactly where Claire had gone, but wasn't supposed to say anything.

"Right…" She said suspiciously.

"Did I mention you look beautiful this evening?" He asked. "Because you do. Not that you don't usually look beautiful…."

Alyssa cracked a smile at his obvious discomfiture. "Thanks. And I believe I did mention you looked nice."

"As did your young friend," he teased.

Alyssa laughed. "She's had the biggest crush on you since the wedding. It drives Toby insane. I think that's part of the reason she says anything, to make him jealous. Sorry, but she seems a bit too in love with my brother to think of you as anything more than a very attractive guy who's friends with Toby's brother-in-law."

Jace was delighted at Alyssa's little mini-rant about her brother and his girlfriend. It was obvious in everything she said that she loved them both to pieces.

"So you approve of who your little brother's picked, then?"

Alyssa grinned. "Most definitely. I approved of that when they were five. Actually, I've never really disapproved of any of my siblings' choices at who they ended up with…"

"Not even your sister's choice? I'm shocked."

Alyssa sniggered. "Number one tension breaker: make fun of Hunter."

"Oh, obviously."

They laughed together. It was pretty nice. They were just walking down the street, when Alyssa suddenly frowned. "Hey, why aren't we taking a car?"

"Because where we're going is too close, and I was told to have you back at a certain time."

Alyssa groaned. "Don't tell me their throwing me a surprise party?"

"Not exactly." Jace's eyes twinkled.

"I really hate surprises," Alyssa mumbled, but then her eyes lit up when she saw where Jace was leading her. "Little Italy!" She exclaimed. "Jace, is this where you're taking me? It's too expensive!"

Jace shrugged. "Kids twelve and under get cheaper meals, and since you're eating for two…."

Alyssa gasped in hilarity and indignation, and pushed him into the grass. Luckily, he had no balance problems, because it probably would've ruined his suit if he'd fallen over.

"Hey, you're dressed for it darlin'," he drawled sarcastically, grinning at her. "Don't worry about it. I already got us reservations."

* * *

Dinner was amazing. When Alyssa had tried to order simple, Jace gave her a stern look until she ordered more. He didn't care about the expense, and Alyssa had to wonder where he'd gotten the money to pay for all this. It was too much.

"I cannot believe you live walking distance from one of the best Italian restaurants in the town, and you only come once or twice a year, if that," Jace was saying now, as if the thought were ridiculous.

"Well, they are outrageously high on pricing," Alyssa said, unashamed when a waitress turned from the table beside to frown at her.

Jace just shook his head.

Conversation went on like that through their entire dinner. They talked about mostly stupid stuff, and about their families. Conversation didn't really get serious until Alyssa made the mistake of mentioning her conversation with Kelsey from earlier.

"...and it's already been an eventful enough day, what with Kelsey and Ella forcing me into a makeover and Kelsey saying she and Hunter might take my baby…"

"What?" Jace sat straight up, looking stunned.

Alyssa paused, mid sentence, to take a drink. She gave Jace an odd look. "What did I say?"

"Kelsey and Hunter want to _take_ your baby?" Jace demanded. "Why would they do that?"

Alyssa set the drink down quickly. "Oh no, it's nothing like that. I asked them too. They've been saying no all this time but today—"

"You _asked_ them to take your baby?" Jace looked absolutely incredulous. "Alyssa….how could you possibly do that?"

Alyssa frowned. "Because I want to?"

"You want someone else to raise your baby?"

"You didn't realize that already?" Alyssa seemed shocked. "Jace, do I look ready to be a single mom to you? Or a mom in general? Kids weren't really in my plan."

Jace merely stared at her. "What?" Alyssa demanded, after another moment.

He shook his head. "I just….I never pictured you wanting to give up your baby. It surprised me. I thought you wanted kids. The way you act with your nieces and nephews…"

"Well you thought wrong." Alyssa grabbed her drink again, feeling quite awkward. She felt bad for snapping at him (for Jace looked really put out now) but it was better she be honest with him now. If he expected her to want to be a mommy right away, or at all, he had another thing coming.

They ate mostly in silence after that, until dessert arrived. Jace's face lit up when the waiter set down a huge chunk of chocolate cake in front of him. Alyssa hid a smile as she picked up a fork to dip up a bite of her simple cherry pie.

"Big fan of chocolate, are you?" She asked, giggling.

Jace's eyes were still bright with excitement. "Honestly, this might make me a little hyper. I don't get chocolate much."

"Why not?"

He shrugged. "Caffeine has a bit of an effect on me. Do you mind?"

Alyssa smiled. "Not at all."

He stuffed a big bite in his mouth and Alyssa could practically see his eyes roll back in his head. "Jace? You okay?"

She tried very hard not to laugh. Jace opened his eyes and grinned at her around his fork. "I'm great. You want some? Take all you want. They gave me a ton."

Normally, Alyssa wasn't given to taking food from someone else's plate besides her siblings', but that chocolate cake looked really inviting at the moment. As long as she didn't eat too awful much of it…. Alyssa knew her doctor, Linda Murphy, had told her that eating chocolate was perfectly fine and wouldn't hurt the baby as long as she didn't over eat it. Alyssa never over ate chocolate anyway, so that wouldn't be a problem.

Alyssa used her fork to take a bite of Jace's chocolate cake, and then groaned as the taste melted on her tongue. She'd forgotten how amazing the chocolate cake at Little Italy's was. "Oh my gosh," she mumbled around a mouthful, taking another bite, "This stuff is to die for. Kelsey and I used to order like half a cake and share it whenever we came here in high school."

Alyssa and Kelsey had practically shared everything in high school. While Kelsey's locker had been upstairs, Alyssa's was downstairs, so they put their books in each other's lockers and made sure no teachers saw them. They'd shared a bedroom up until Kelsey had gotten married last summer.

And now Alyssa was asking her sister to share her baby.

She put her fork down, suddenly not hungry anymore.

"Everything okay?" Jace raised an eyebrow.

Alyssa nodded without really saying anything. Her mind was whirling. Had she ever really stopped and asked Kelsey if she and Hunter _wanted_ to raise her baby? Just because they adopted one little girl, and couldn't have kids of their own, did not mean they'd want to take in every child that didn't have any parents.

Alyssa had always thought that Kelsey was declining her offer every time because she had some preconceived notion that a mother should want to keep her child, and that Alyssa would grow to wish she'd never let go of her baby. But could the real reason be that she and Hunter didn't want another child at the moment? Oh how awful that would be if it were true.

"Did you know," Alyssa said, a little absently, "that I asked Linda Murphy not to tell me what gender my baby was?"

Jace blinked. "I heard you wanted to be surprised." He sounded confused, like he had no idea why she was bringing this up.

Alyssa sighed. "It wasn't that I wanted to be surprised. It's that I didn't want it to be official. My baby is still an 'it' until I give birth. If I knew if I was having a boy or a girl, I'd have to start referring to it as 'he' or 'she,' and then it would be like I'm talking about a real baby, a real person. And I don't want to be talking about a real person. I want it to be easy enough to just hand my baby over to my sister and not mind because I never got to know it as a person. I only knew it as a thing that happened to me."

Alyssa grew very quiet after that, looking down. This was something she could barely come to terms with herself, but for some reason, Jace made her want to tell him these things. And sometimes, things you don't want to admit to yourself have a way of coming up in conversation when you just let yourself speak without thinking too much on what you're saying.

Jace leant forward, and Alyssa looked up involuntarily. "Your baby is a real person," he said. "You know that right? Whether it's a boy or a girl, you have a little person inside you right now. And that's _your_ baby. Whether you decide to let your sister raise him or her is completely up to you, but that's only because this is your baby, and you need to decide what's best for them."

It wasn't hard to miss that Jace tried his best to avoid calling her baby 'it.'

"Kelsey told me to give it a few weeks and then decide," Alyssa told him. "But that makes no sense. That'll be the time period when I'm most confused. I could go into post-partum depression and want nothing to do with my baby, and regret it later, or I could get so emotional that I decide to keep it and act resentful to it for the next eighteen years. That's why I wanted to decide before the baby was born, but my resolve has always been to give Kelsey my baby. I mean it made perfect sense at the time. I wasn't ready to be a mother. I didn't want to be a mother. Kelsey wanted nothing more than to be a mother, but she couldn't have kids. Bingo, give Kelsey your baby. Still get to see it, but have no responsibility in raising it."

Jace snorted. "Now you know that's not true."

Alyssa raised an eyebrow at him.

"You'd still feel responsible," he said, raising an eyebrow. "For the rest of your life, you'd feel guilty for putting your baby off on your sister to raise. You'd try and pay for everything, and you'd do everything you could to be the world's best aunt and spoil that kid rotten so he or she wouldn't hate you if they ever found out you were their real mother. And that would just make things worse. See, you're looking at this through a one-way mirror, Lys. You need to have some perspective and think things through for everyone involved before you make any kind of decision."

Alyssa put her head in her hands. "I just don't want to make Kelsey think she's going to be a mother and then decide one day that I want my baby back. That would tear her apart."

Jace just looked at her. Alyssa understood that this meant he totally agreed with her but didn't want to upset her by doing so.

"Well you don't have to decide anything tonight," he said finally, holding up his glass of tea. Alyssa raised her apple juice and clinked it against Jace's glass. "Let's just enjoy your birthday before I have to get you back home."

Knowing there had to be some kind of extravagant surprise waiting for her back at the Bentley's, Alyssa groaned. "Happy birthday to me."

* * *

"I had fun tonight," Alyssa admitted, when they made it to the front door of her house. Jace beamed down at her.

"Honestly? Even with all the—"

"Yes Jace," Alyssa laughed, "even with all of that. Thank you for inviting me to dinner."

"Thank you for not canceling the plans your sister made for you."

"How did you know?" Alyssa cackled.

Jace rolled his eyes. "I'm pretty sure the Alyssa I know would never use the words 'Sorry for earlier Jacey-poo. Of course I'll accept your invite!' with about a dozen heart emojis."

Alyssa gasped. "She didn't!"

"Check your phone." Jace chuckled.

Alyssa did, and then inwardly cursed her sister for her 'helpfulness.'

"She did," Alyssa moaned.

Jace just shook his head, still smiling. Then he leant down to kiss Alyssa's cheek. "That okay?" He asked hesitantly, when he pulled back.

Alyssa was sure her face was totally red. "Uh, yeah. Look, Jace—"

"I get it." He gave her a tiny smile. "You're not ready for a relationship just yet?"

She bit her lip, but nodded. "I'm sorry Jace. I really did have a good time tonight, and I do like you a lot—"

"I know," he told her softly. "The timing's all wrong. You need to figure things out with your baby situation before you even think about dating. Just know, I'll always be here for you."

"As a friend?" Alyssa asked, not sure if she was hoping for a yes or a no.

Jace just smiled. "As whatever you need me to be."

They stared into each other's eyes for a long moment, and Alyssa thought they might actually kiss for real this time, before Jace's phone went off.

He stepped back awkwardly. "Ah, that'll be your sister." He took just a second to look at the text before moving to open the door for her. "Look's like they're ready for you."

* * *

"Why are we going to the backyard?" Alyssa asked suspiciously. "Please Jace, tell me there's not a surprise party waiting for me."

"It's not a surprise if it's just family right?"

"You do realize I have no friends, don't you?" She shot back.

"Apart from me," he corrected her with a smile.

Alyssa blushed. "Yes, apart from you."

They walked through the back door and all of Alyssa's family was there, surrounding her. No one said "Surprise!" so Jace continued to assure her this wasn't a surprise party, but he couldn't deny that it was a surprise for her, because she had no idea everyone would be there.

"Lys!' Ella squealed, and ran up to hug her. "Happy Birthday! How was your date?"

Alyssa rolled her eyes. "You act like you haven't seen me in forever. I just saw you a couple hours ago."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, blah, blah. How was your date?"

Always so direct, that one. "Dinner was fine, but it wasn't a date."

Ella pouted at her. "Well why the heck not? We got you all dressed up and cuteified and now you're telling me it wasn't even a date? What gives?"

"Cuteified isn't a word," Alyssa pointed out.

"Alyssa," Ella warned.

"We mutually decided it would be better to remain friends until certain situations resolved themselves." Alyssa shot a glance at Jace, who had made his way to stand beside Hunter and Kelsey, the only other people in the room Alyssa knew Jace was totally comfortable being around.

"You mean you decided it and he agreed because he's a really nice guy who's willing to wait?" Ella guessed.

"Enough about my dating life," Alyssa snapped, hoping that didn't sound mean as soon as the words were out of her mouth. "What's everyone doing here? I told you I didn't want to make my birthday a big deal this year. I'd be totally fine with a text or a call telling me happy birthday and maybe an IOU one birthday card."

"We're here because Uncle Daryl asked us to come."

Alyssa groaned. "That man. I swear…"

"He only wants what's best for you," Ella said, but she sounded wary now. Alyssa could understand where her thoughts were taking her. Toby. Uncle Daryl was still adamant about wanting Toby to become a cop and to stop fooling around on the race tracks. Aunt Claire supported him fully in that argument only because she didn't want to see her baby getting hurt again.

Honestly, Alyssa didn't want to see him hurt again either, but racing was something Toby had always been passionate about, and people need to experience their passions. So Alyssa and her siblings had supported Toby, but they'd done it quietly. They didn't want to upset Aunt Claire or bring the wrath of Uncle Daryl down on the one kid still living at home. Well, besides Alyssa, but she wasn't planning on living here forever.

"Is there cake?" Alyssa asked, abruptly changing the subject. There was no way she was letting sweet little Ella go down that miserable train of thoughts again tonight. Alyssa would suck it up and enjoy her family's attention, if only for their sakes.

Ella grinned. "Red velvet cake."

"Mmm," Alyssa said, putting extra emphasis into her words so it sounded like she was really excited about this party now. "You know how I love me some red velvet cake. Lead the way, teenager."

It worked. Ella laughed.

* * *

"And your big surprise…." Daryl told her, after everyone was through eating. Alyssa's back was killing her, and her stomach had started having these shooting pains that she occasionally had, but Uncle Daryl wanted her to stand for this surprise, so she did.

He led her several feet away from the party, almost into the Ingrams' back yard, and stopped in a really dark spot of the yard, where no light ever touched it. Alyssa heard a rumble, and then all of a sudden, a car could be seen pulling forward. It was a red four door Chevy, and Toby was in the driver's seat, grinning like a maniac. He hopped out of the car as soon as it was in view and yelled, "Hey sis, how ya like your new ride?"

Alyssa couldn't believe it. A new car? Why a new car?

Uncle Daryl seemed to read the question in her eyes, because he said, "Your old one was getting pretty beat up, honey. And with the baby coming….Well, your aunt and I thought it'd be best for you to have something more practical and dependable."

Alyssa felt tears well up in her eyes. She rushed forward to hug her aunt and then uncle. Daryl squeezed her back, and Alyssa gasped, eyes flying wide.

"Alyssa, what is it?" Daryl moved back, concerned. Porter stepped forward too.

Alyssa's hands flew to her stomach and she let out a squeak. "Something's wrong. I think….I think I might be going into labor."

Porter cursed, which was very unlike him. "Toby, start the car!" He called, and he and Daryl grabbed Alyssa's arms and helped haul her to the car.

Jace was there in seconds. "Where's your suitcase? Do you want me to bring it to the hospital?"

Alyssa whimpered. He was such a sweet guy, wanting to do that.

"No time!" Toby yelled from the driver's seat. "Get in the car, Miller, or I'll run you over."

"Toby!" Alyssa exclaimed, but Jace was already climbing in after her.

"Dad and Port are giving us a police escort," Toby said, pulling forward. Two cop cars pulled out in front of them, and then they were speeding off toward the hospital."

"Jace?"

He turned, and she saw panic in his eyes. Awe. "Yeah Lys?"

"Will you call Kelsey?"

He had his phone up to his ear in three seconds flat. "What do you want me to tell her. Hey Kels."

"Tell her that I—OW!"

"I'm hurrying as fast as I can, Lys," Toby called from the driver's seat. "Man can this car fly. Whew!"

"Alyssa, what do you want me to tell her?" Jace asked again, grabbing Alyssa's hand. She squeezed his tightly.

"Tell her I think I want to keep my baby! At least for now," She gasped out. "Jace….I'm having a baby."

The grin on his face was tinged by the fear in his eyes, but he was obviously very pleased. "You sure are."

"Welcome to the world Preston Jace West," Kelsey whispered, holding the baby close. Alyssa was asleep, and Jace was in the chair beside her, his hand still clutched in hers.

"I cannot believe she wanted to use my name," Jace said, and there was a certain light in his eyes as he watched Kelsey pace the room with her nephew in her arms.

Kelsey smiled back at him knowingly. "Jace, don't give up hope. She's let down a lot of walls tonight. She wants to let you in, she just doesn't know how to yet. She doesn't know how to trust the people she cares for."

Alyssa stirred in her sleep, and Jace turned his face away. The look he bestowed upon Kelsey's sister was one of pure love. "I won't leave her," he promised. Kelsey got the feeling he was saying this more to Alyssa than to her.

"Do you want to hold him again?" Kelsey asked. "I want to get a picture."

She didn't give him a chance to refuse. She pushed the baby into his arms and pulled out her phone. "Lean in closer to her," she whispered, hoping to not wake up the sleeping baby or his mama.

"You never planned on taking him, did you?" Jace asked, glancing down at the sweet baby boy in his arms.

"No I did not."

Jace had the most adorable grin on his face when Kelsey snapped the picture.

Later on, Alyssa would complain about Kelsey taking pictures of her when she was asleep, but Kelsey would know better. That would be Alyssa's favorite picture in the world, and it would go dead center on her cork board.

* * *

 **Hey guys! Sorry if some of this seems a bit rushed, but I wanted to get a lot of Alyssa updates in this one chapter before I move on to other things, because in just a few chapters we have a bunch of change coming and I don't know how much of these characters we'll be seeing for a little while. I will be showing flashbacks of the progression of Jace and Alyssa's romance, but I need you guys to participate in reminding me to post these things, because I'm forgetful when I get other scenes in my mind, and so far I don't have a place for that yet. So can you guys remind me within the next several chapters? Good deal.**

 **So what do you guys think of Jace and Alyssa? Would you be interested in seeing their love story as a separate story at some point? Let me know in the reviews lol.**

 **Also, sorry for the late update. I've been sick recently, and was not able to go to school for a week. And let me tell you, you do not want to be behind a week of AP classwork. Then, on top of everything, my grandfather recently passed after struggling with cancer for a while. So sorry the update's this late. I'll try harder next time.**

 ***I don't own anything you might recognize**

 **God bless you all!**

 **-Daddysgirl11**


	5. Avoiding Annoyances

**I don't own Austin & Ally**

* * *

 **July 4, 2025**

Eli had not been made aware of just how big family reunions were with the Moons. They literally invited everyone they knew. Unfortunately, this included Merilee Ingram, but at least she seemed distracted by her sister at the moment.

Eli was also resigned to see that this included his father, but he supposed he should've expected that. Elliot actually was a part of their family, as much as Eli tried not to think about the fact.

At first Elliot had tried keeping a respectful distance, but his natural curiosity seemed to make this impossible for more than about half an hour.

"Hey," he said, standing awkwardly beside Eli at the shore. "How you doing with Ally and her crew?"

"Fine."

"Is life good there?" He was obviously _trying_ to make an effort. It was expected of him. Out of the corner of his eye, Elliot could see Ally and Ella watching them surreptitiously.

"Better than life with you was." Eli glared at the offending ocean. It didn't have to be a part of this conversation.

Elliot sighed. "Eli, I'm trying. I'm sorry I wasn't there to be a part of your life—"

"Or Ella's," Eli said.

"Or Ella's," Elliot agreed.

"Although," Eli added bitterly, "it seems you'd have rather gotten to know the kid you had with your 'true love' than your one night stand. And I doubt it actually has anything to do with Ella—except maybe that she's a thousand times more forgiving than me. I think it's because people—namely Ally—knew about her. You were expected to want to be a part of her life. But no one knew about me or my mom. Why did we matter?"

Elliot looked desperate. "You were twelve years old when I got out of prison. I figured you'd hate me by then."

"I did."

"I met Ella when she was five. She'd somehow got it in her head I was a good guy, someone worth fixing. But not someone she'd ever consider worthy of calling her father. Because Ally was her mother, and my sister. Austin was her father. I missed my chance the day I found out about her. But somehow, she still figured I was good enough to be in her life. She calls me her uncle. That's why I think it was easier for her to accept me when I came back last year."

Eli decided to pretend he hadn't been listening, or at least that he didn't care what this low-life was telling him. "Yeah, well, I'm not Ella. I have no reason to see you as the good guy."

Elliot went silent at that, and Eli was glad. He didn't want to have this conversation.

Glancing out at the ocean, he saw a large wave crash on top of Emma. When she came back up she was gasping and turning this way and that in the water. She seemed to be looking for something desperately.

"Dang it," Eli muttered. He threw off his t-shirt and tread into the water, swimming over to where Emma was ducked in the water, neck deep. She obviously had to be stooping because they were on the second sandbar and the water was up to Eli's waist.

"What'd ya lose?" Eli asked. Emma jumped, eyes wide. She crossed her arms over her chest, and it was only then that Eli realized what was happening.

"Help," she squeaked, eyes wide with terror. Her cheeks were bright red with embarrassment. She glanced to her left, and Eli noticed that all of Emma's friends, along with her crush, were swimming together in a group.

Eli looked back at his little cousin, and felt an unexpected surge of protectiveness that surprised him. It was unfamiliar, feeling this way. She was around two years younger than him, but he felt the need to keep her safe. She was Emma—sweet, innocent little Emma.

Toby was swimming over to them. Eli moved to stand in front of Emma, back to her so she didn't feel even more embarrassed.

"What's going on here?" Toby asked, forehead creasing. He tried leaning around Eli to look at Emma, but Eli blocked his view. "Em? You okay?"

"Go away Toby." Her voice was muffled from the sound of the crashing waves around them.

Toby looked toward Eli, who cocked his head back toward Emma while pointing, very obviously, at his own chest. Toby seemed to understand after a few seconds.

"Oh!" He said quietly, eyes wide. Then he rolled his eyes. "Emma, for the love of—I used to help change your diapers!"

"I'm sure she wasn't almost twelve years old at the time," Eli muttered to his sister's boyfriend.

Toby sighed, and then motioned for Ella. It took her several moments to see, and then she waded into the water, confusion clearly written all over her face. "What's going on?"

Emma was almost in tears as Toby whispered into Ella's ear what was going on. Ella's eyes widened in understanding, and she moved to stand in front of Emma, beside Eli. "Go get your t-shirt," she told Eli quietly. "Toby and I will stand in front of her."

Emma made a little whining noise, and Eli took off swimming for the shore as fast as he could without looking like there was some kind of emergency.

"What was that about?" Elliot demanded, once Eli made it back onto the sand.

"None of your dang business, that's what," Eli snapped, yanking up his shirt and wading back into the water, leaving his stunned jerk of a dad on the shore.

When Eli got back to where Emma and her bodyguards were standing, he noticed Toby had his back to her, and Emma was turned around facing Ella, who was behind them both. They were shielding her from everyone else's view, including Toby's.

"Here you go Em." Eli reached past Toby, but made sure not to look. Poor Emma had had enough embarrassment for one day.

Once Emma had gotten Eli's t-shirt over her head, she said in a hoarse voice, "I don't want to walk past everyone in a t-shirt. They'll know what happened."

Eli moved to Emma's side, and told his sister and Toby to stay in front and behind her. "They can't see you like this," he assured his little cousin.

So, in that exact formation, the four of them made their way out of the ocean. Just as they were passing Emma's group of friends, Evan, the little idiot, shouted out to his sister, "Hey, where ya going Em?"

"To the house," Emma replied, turning her head.

"Why?" Evan was quite oblivious, as always. "And why are you wearing a t-shirt? You weren't wearing that when you got in."

"A jellyfish stung her," Eli snapped, sending Evan a furious glare that the kid obviously did not understand.

"O-kay…." Evan's eyebrows furrowed. "But why does she need a t-shirt for—"

"Because she got a sunburn too," Eli said loudly. "Shut up Evan, she's having a bad day. Jellyfish hurt, and it sucks having to wear a t-shirt over a sunburn."

"Whatever." Evan gave them all a strange look, but shrugged, turning back to his friends.

"Thanks for that," Emma whispered, her hand brushing against Eli's for a brief second.

Eli gave her a rare, tiny smile. "Any time kid."

* * *

"Hi Alyssa."

Alyssa looked up, and was shocked to see Jazzy Davis standing over her beach chair. She'd seen the Moons' charge a couple of times, but had never really spoken to her. Jazzy seemed rude, and when they'd first met, all they'd had in common was being pregnant at the same time.

"Oh, hi Jazzy...What's up?" Alyssa tried for a light tone, but was pretty sure she failed. Hopefully Jazzy would just blame it on her being tired or sore. She _had_ just had a baby a week before. In all fairness, she shouldn't even be here. But Alyssa wouldn't miss a Moon family reunion for the world. The only drawback to said reunions was that _everyone_ they knew were invited. Alyssa still wasn't thrilled by the fact that Elliot Dawson was here.

"Your baby is just the cutest thing." Jazzy smiled in the direction of the house, where Alyssa knew Kelsey had exiled herself to with the baby. "Do you mind if I hold him?"

"Oh." Alyssa was really surprised now. "Uh, sure. I'll come with you. I needed a break anyway."

Jazzy helped her up from the chair, which Alyssa thought was both very sweet and very, very weird. When they got to the house, Toby, Ella, Eli and Emma were all just walking down the stairs together, and Emma was wearing a different bathing suit than the one she'd had on before.

"Where's April?" Ella asked, which always seemed to be her immediate response to seeing Jazzy without the baby.

Jazzy shook her head, a small smirk on her face. "Merilee Ingram has her. She was playing with all the little kids, last I saw her."

"They're not close to the ocean, are they?" Ella sounded worried, which made Alyssa smile. Now there was a girl that would have been ready to be a mother, if the need had arisen. Instead, the world worked in mysterious ways and somehow managed to grant two of the most irresponsible and unprepared girls in the world with babies.

"No, Mom, she's fine. They're all playing in the sand. April was having a grand old time."

Ella grimaced. "Still, I'd better go check on them…" She trailed off, her mind obviously elsewhere as she walked out the door.

Toby gave Alyssa and Jazzy a crooked grin, and in that smile, Alyssa could see exactly how much her baby brother loved that girl. "And that's my cue to make sure she doesn't worry herself to death and smother the poor kids," he laughed.

After he left, the only people still in the room were Alyssa, Jazzy, Eli and Emma.

"What are you two doing in here?" Jazzy wondered, not impolitely.

"None of your business," Eli snapped.

"Hey, be nice." Kelsey walked in the room, carrying Alyssa's little boy in her arms. Despite everything, the sight of that baby always managed to make Alyssa smile. It was weird. Just a week ago she'd wanted nothing more than to have someone else raise her baby just to get him away from her. Now, however, she couldn't go but for a few minutes at a time without looking at him. Her precious little miracle. It could just be the hormones making her feel this way, which is something Alyssa had feared from the start, but at the moment, she couldn't care less.

Eli turned his head away and grumbled, "We're not in school. You can't tell me what to do."

And then he left too. Emma stood there awkwardly in his wake, looking around the room.

"Emma, don't you want to go back out and swim?" Kelsey asked.

"Not really."

"Why not?" Alyssa wondered. "If I could, I'd totally get in that water right now."

"I don't want to go back outside," Emma mumbled, lowering her head. "Too embarrassing."

Kelsey looked confused. "Why would you—"

"Oh sh—crap, did you lose your top in the water?" Jazzy asked, her eyes the size of saucers. "That's why your siblings and Toby formed that little protection circle around you!"

Emma still had her head down, but Alyssa could see her ears getting pink. Just like her daddy, that was a sure sign she was extremely embarrassed.

"Hey Kelsey," Alyssa said quickly, "Jazzy wanted to know if she could hold Preston. I told her that was fine. You don't mind, do you?"

Kelsey looked surprised by the quick change in subject, but seemed to understand when Alyssa nodded once towards Emma. The poor girl was nearly shaking.

"Yeah sure. Here you go. Careful with his head." Kelsey gently laid her nephew in Jazzy's arms.

Jazzy rolled her eyes, but laughed. "I know how to hold a newborn, Kels. Mine's only a couple months old as it is."

"Right. Sorry, I keep forgetting. April looked so cute today in her little swim suit. Oh, and that hat!"

Jazzy was positively beaming. "Thank you. Mia looked adorable too. Is this her first time at the beach?"

"Yep. Last year's reunion was at the park."

Alyssa was happy that her sister seemed to be keeping the other girl occupied at the moment. She turned her attention to Emma and said, "Why don't we go upstairs for a minute?"

Emma sighed. "Alright."

* * *

"Ella!" Toby laughed as he pulled his girlfriend away from the kids, yet again. She kept going over to poor little Merilee, making sure she knew not to let April out of her sights, to keep sunscreen on her regularly, to make sure sand and the sun didn't get in her eyes, and a bunch of other baby tips the kid probably already knew since her mother fostered younger children.

"What?" Ella whined. "I just want our girl to be safe. Besides, look how many kids are over there. Merilee can't watch them _all_ at once."

Merilee's three younger foster-siblings, along with Mia, Lizzie and Zach were all sitting around the sand castle Merilee was helping them construct. Though the parents seemed to trust Merilee with their toddlers and young children, Jazzy seemed to be the only one who let the kid watch her baby unsupervised. Porter had Adie, who was now a year old, on the sandbar of the ocean, and she was all decked out in her Disney Princess themed floaties. Kelsey had the one-week-old Preston in the house. Basically Mia was the youngest kid Merilee was watching, other than April, and Mia was three years old, almost four.

"Ella, those other kids are old enough to watch themselves. Merilee's brother is eleven. Same age as the twins. The other two are like seven and eight. Zach's seven. Lizzie's five. She's pretty much only watching Mia and April."

"That's still too much for a thirteen year old," Ella complained, as Toby pulled her further away from the children.

"Aren't you paying attention to anything?" Toby laughed. "There's about five adults just yards from where those kids are sitting, and they're all keeping a close eye on them. Logan's standing with Hunter, pretending to talk sports while they both watch April and Mia. Maddie's 'taking pictures' of Porter and Adie, while surreptitiously glancing back every thirty seconds to make sure her other two kids are okay. And just about every member of the Murphy clan here today is watching those foster kids. You don't have to worry."

Ella stopped walking then, or stopped allowing herself to be lead away, and raised an eyebrow at him. "Did you just say _surreptitiously_?" She demanded.

Toby rolled his eyes. "Stop making fun of me for using big words. I know I used that word right." She continued to give him that look. Toby squinted at her. "It's probably just your yappy mouth rubbing off on me."

Finally, this made her giggle. "You better change your tone mister, or this _yappy mouth_ won't be rubbing on you." She winked, and then ran away, her maniacal laughter able to be heard a mile away.

Toby just shook his head, letting her get a few more seconds of a head start. He could catch her in mere seconds flat, and she'd tire herself out within a few minutes anyway. He never had any clue why she insisted on letting him chase her. But chase her he would. All the days of his life. That's the way it's always been, and the way it would always be.

* * *

"Emma, you don't have to be embarrassed," Alyssa told the younger girl as she sat beside her on the bed in one of the many upstairs rooms. "I can't tell you the number of times I've almost lost my top in the water."

"'Almost' being the key word there, Alyssa," Emma mumbled. "I don't know of a single person besides me that actually did. And all my friends are here."

"Are you sure this is about your friends?" Alyssa asked, smiling. She knew exactly what this was about, but didn't want to say anything unless Emma chose to confide in her. Kids got really upset if someone guessed who they had a crush on before they told them.

Emma groaned. "I wouldn't care if Bri or Lily or Alli or even Evan saw me, for that matter. But Jake and Collin are here." Her voice dropped a little. "You know….I wouldn't even care that much if Jake knew. He's been mine and Evan's friend for so long, he's practically my brother."

"So this is about…?"

"Collin." Emma sighed, laying back against the bed. Alyssa would've said something about the comforter getting wet, but now was probably not the time. Besides, it wasn't _her_ bed, so what did it matter?

Alyssa laid back against the bed too, and smiled over at little Emma. "What about Collin?"

"Ilikehim," Emma mumbled.

"What was that?"

"I like him," she said, a bit more clearly, and sighed. "I like him a lot. And I don't think he'd like me back very much if all I do is embarrass myself in front of him. Do you know how awkward it is to keep messing up in front of the guy you like?"

"Yes," Alyssa snorted.

Emma hesitated. "Okay, then do you know what it's like to throw all your problems at the guy you like? And then feel like you owe him because he was so good about it and helped you through a really tough time?"

Alyssa laughed. "Kid, you are describing my love life to a T."

She made a huffing noise. "Alyssa, you're an adult. You're not supposed to understand what I'm going through. I'm eleven."

This made Alyssa smile. "Emma, I think sometimes love works the same when you're eleven as it does when you're my age."

"You mean I have like forty more years to look forward to this crappy feeling?"

"How old do you think I am?" Alyssa sat up, slightly amused, and thoroughly exasperated. But Emma was laughing.

"I'm just kidding. But it does kind of suck to think that it's not just middle school crushes that do this to people. I can tell you and Jace really love each other."

Alyssa felt herself turn red. "I don't know about love…"

"I do." Emma sat up, giving her an earnest look. "You look at each other the way Toby and Ella do. Or the way my parents, or Porter and Maddie, or Hunter and Kelsey, or—"

"Okay, I get it." Alyssa laughed nervously.

"Do you think anyone will ever look at me like that?" Emma asked, with all the wistfulness of a preteen hoping for love. Which, Alyssa figured, was what she was.

Alyssa sat up, and gave Emma a very serious look. "I know they will. In fact, I see the way Collin stares after you when you're not looking." She wiggled her eyebrows at the kid, just to see if she could get a reaction out of her.

It worked. Emma blushed. "You don't think...I mean, it's crazy to think I could find the love of my life at eleven years old, right?"

Alyssa shrugged. "Didn't Ella find hers at five? Weren't your parents young when they first met?"

"Yes, but come on. Those were special cases."

"Hunter and Kelsey met at fourteen and fifteen, right?"

"Alyssa!" Emma was laughing, but she still looked very nervous, so Alyssa gave up her previous argument.

"Look, I don't know if what you and Collin have is love. Love can sometimes develop over time. Look how long it took your sister and my brother to realize they were more than just best friends. But Emma Faith Moon, I can tell you one thing for sure: That boy likes you. That much I know."

"You really think so?" Emma beamed at her.

"Didn't I just say I know so?" Alyssa shook her head, grinning. "Come on, let's get back outside. People are really going to start wondering where you are."

Emma laughed. "Thanks Alyssa. You're the best." She hugged her tight.

Alyssa smiled and hugged back, only wincing slightly when Emma squeezed too hard. "Yeah, yeah. Any time kid."

* * *

After Eli left the beach house, he spent the next half an hour or so dodging his so-called-father at every turn. The man wanted nothing more than to make Eli's life miserable, so it seemed.

"Just talk to him," Ella pleaded with him, after Eli ran into her and Toby for the third time, trying to get away from Elliot. "He really wants to get to know his son."

"I'm not his son," Eli snapped at her. "I'm not anyone's son. Not anymore."

Ella hadn't said another word after that, but Eli had seen the agonized look on her face, and the way Toby wrapped his arm around her, trying to comfort her. Eli briefly felt sorry for upsetting her, but Ella should know better than to stick her nose where it doesn't belong. His life was his life, and he didn't want the big sister he'd never known he had digging into it.

"You could just tell him to screw off," Jake, who was one of the twins' friends, told him, when Eli had ducked into the bathroom once after Elliot had spotted him.

"Ally wouldn't like that," Eli grumbled. "Besides, I already told him that. He just doesn't seem to get the message, the old—"

Jake Matthews had apparently never been around someone who used so much foul language in one sentence, because he left the bathroom pretty soon after that with a stunned look on his face. Oh well. The kid would hear it all eventually. He did go to public school, after all.

"Hey."

Eli turned. Merilee was sitting in the sand with baby April in her lap and little Mia beside her.

 _Well,_ Eli thought, _I guess she's the lesser of two evils._

"Hey yourself," he said. "Where's the rest of the Motley-crew you had over here?"

Merilee grinned. "Where aren't they? I think their parents got a little too anxious with a thirteen year old and her eleven year old brother watching six kids by themselves. So now I just have the two little ones."

"Where are their moms?" Eli asked, though he could already guess.

"Jazzy went in to play with Alyssa's baby, and Kelsey's talking to her. She wouldn't let that little thing out of her sight unless he's with Alyssa. Or Jace. I think she trusts Jace to be with the baby, which is funny considering she doesn't trust her own husband with him."

"People make things way too complicated when it comes to babies," Eli said, shaking his head.

Merilee laughed. "Tell me about it. Your sister's been by at least eight times to make sure I'm watching April right. And you wouldn't believe the cautious looks I keep getting from Hunter. But Mia didn't want to go with him. She wanted to keep building a sand castle. Isn't that right?"

"Yeah. I like castles. I'm a princess." Mia grinned toothily. She was a pretty little girl, and she actually looked a bit like Merilee with her blonde hair. Eli could imagine the older girl in pigtails just like Mia's. Merilee struck him as the kind of weirdo that would like pigtails.

"You sure are a princess." Merilee tickled Mia's stomach, making the little girl giggle uncontrollably. To Eli, she said, "So, you still hiding from your dad?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

"Just a conversation starter. Of course it was obvious. What did he say to you earlier anyway? You looked pretty ticked off."

Eli was about to tell her to piss off, in a not-so-nice way, but luckily remembered just in time that two very small children were in their presence. Eli may cuss in front of eleven year olds, but even he had morals when it came to the really young kids.

Instead, Eli was resigned to explaining what had transpired between him and Elliot earlier that day. It was better than actually having to face his father, or having to tell this tale to any of his new family members.

"He tried to apologize," Eli said, after he'd finished explaining the event. His voice was full of disgust. "Who just thinks 'sorry' will cut it with the load of crap he pulled with everyone?"

Merilee bit her lip. "I don't know Eli. Maybe forgiveness would help you both."

Eli felt the hatred towards his father and the annoyance at his stalker burn in his veins, and it made him positively explode. "What do you know?" He snapped. "Your life is all sunshines and rainbows Merilee, so just shut up. You don't know hard. Don't pretend you do."

Mia was staring at him with wide, slightly scared eyes. April had started crying. But Merilee… Merilee didn't even bat an eyelash. She just stared back at him very seriously and said, "Just my opinion, Eli. Do what you like. You always do. Come o Mia, I'll take you back to your Daddy."

She lifted the screaming baby in her arms and grabbed Mia by the hand. Without even a backwards glance in Eli's direction, she was gone, taking both little girls with her.

Eli stood there in the aftermath of his rage and watched as the ocean washed away the sandcastle the kids had spent all day building and rebuilding.

He felt bad. He hadn't meant to yell in front of those two babies, or even at Merilee. She shouldn't have butted in, saying he should forgive his dad when Eli had only wanted to rant, but he still shouldn't have shouted. She was only trying to be helpful, no matter how annoying Merilee's "helpfulness" often was.

Eli trudged his way over to where Ella and Toby were standing and tapped his sister on the arm. "Can we go now?"

Ella frowned. "What? Why?" She glanced a few yards away to where Elliot was standing next to Ally, looking glum. "Is this because of Elliot?"

"Not just him." Eli shook his head. "When can we go home?"

He didn't usually refer to the Moons' house as his home, but knew the word would give his request the maximum effect.

"Tomorrow," Ella said, looking apologetic. "Sorry Eli, we're staying the night. The boys have a room upstairs, but you can go up whenever you like."

"The boys?" Eli felt his gut churn. "How many boys will be in there, exactly?"

"You, Evan, Jake, Lucas, Zach… I think that might be it. Toby may be in there too, we're not really sure yet."

"Well this oughta be fun," Eli grunted.

* * *

 **July 11, 2025**

"Why do I have to be here?" Eli complained. They were at JCPenny's, shopping for the twins some clothes for their seventh grade year at school. Eli, who was going into eighth grade, couldn't be bothered with such ridiculous crap. He had plenty of clothes, and Ally had bought him more around Christmas, when he'd come to live with them. "I already have clothes."

"We're not just clothes shopping." Ella laughed. "But Mom said to get you some too. We have to get school supplies on your lists too. I do believe Kelsey and Maddie have gone in together and asked for quite a lot this year."

"I refuse to do this next year," Eli deadpanned.

"Lucky for you, I'll be in college next year. I won't have time to take you shopping."

"What?" Emma looked horrified.

"I'm kidding." Ella rolled her eyes. "Of course we're doing this next year. I need my little sister telling me what looks most college-y."

"Kill me now," Eli grumbled.

Maybe Eli wouldn't have been in such a bad mood if it had only been Ella and the twins, or even Toby, that were here shopping that day. But no. Jazzy and April had joined them. It was Jazzy's senior year, even though she was nineteen and should've already graduated. She was hoping to get her GED by Christmas. Eli just didn't see that happening, but he kept his mouth shut.

"Emma! Evan! Eli! Hi guys! What's up?"

"Oh no." Eli groaned, immediately recognizing the voice. Why, oh why, did Merilee Ingram have to be here on a day when he was already so miserable?

"Hi guys!" Ella said cheerfully. Elia watched, disinterested, as Ella, Jazzy, Toby and the twins greeted Merilee and some other kids with fake-enthusiasm. Well, maybe fake. You could never tell with Ella she was always just so nice. And Jazzy sometimes seemed annoyed with Merilee but had grown to appear a little fond of her. God only knows why. Toby seemed to enjoy the fact that Merilee so obviously liked him. And the twins… well, it was obvious they, at least, weren't so thrilled to see Merilee.

"Where's your uncle kiddo?" Jazzy asked.

 _Ah_ , Eli thought. _That's why she puts up with Merilee._

"Around the corner with Harper. She's in the bathroom, but the boys wanted to keep looking," Merilee explained. "He'll be over here in a minute."

After another minute or so of boring small talk, a boy about Ella's age came around the corner with a little girl who had bright red hair. She was wearing a shiny (like _really_ shiny) green dress that seemed to hint that this kid might have as bright a personality as Merilee. If this kid, or any of the others for that matter, had been at the family reunion last week, Eli didn't remember them. But then he hadn't really been paying much attention.

"Hi Logan." Ella smiled at him in welcome. Eli glanced at Toby, but he didn't seem jealous or anything. Eli almost snorted. Toby was a real good guy, not to get jealous of every guy Ella talked to.

"Hey guys." Logan seemed awkward in this group setting, and Eli could hardly blame him. This guy, Eli could see some promise in.

Toby's phone suddenly dinged and his eyes widened as he pulled it out. "Crap. Ella, our reservations are ready. Do I cancel or…?"

"No, don't cancel your date!" Jazzy said quickly. "I'll take the kids to finish shopping. They've got a list. We'll be fine."

Ella still looked worried. "Jazzy, are you sure? You've got April, and I mean _all three of them_ …?"

"We'll be fine," Jazzy assured her. "Don't worry. Go on your date. Have fun. I'll text you when we leave."

"And we'll be here with them," Merilee put in quickly. "Between Jazzy, Logan, Eli and myself, we can handle three eleven year olds, an eight year old, a seven year old, and a baby."

That did not seem to ease Ella's mind, but unfortunately for Eli, she agreed anyway.

Ella got them cash out of the ATM and instructed them all not to spend it on anything except school supplies, school clothes, and food, and then she and Toby left.

Eli inwardly groaned and turned to face the new crowd of idiots he had to spend the rest of the afternoon alone with. Maybe he could hang out with that Logan guy.

Except Logan was chatting with Jazzy up at the front of the group. Eli considered Emma, or even Evan, but they'd engaged the younger kids and the boy their age in conversation.

That left Merilee, the one person Eli had been trying to avoid all week.

Merilee sidled up to him and muttered, "This is the lamest load of crap back to school shopping trip I've ever been on."

Eli blinked. Was this Merilee Ingram saying something... _negative_?

"Agreed," he said warily.

"I'm sure Jazzy and Logan wouldn't mind if we slipped off for a bit if you wanted to go to, oh I don't know...Hot Topic?"

His jaw dropped. "You like Hot Topic?"

She grinned.

"B-But," he spluttered, utterly shocked, "it's so...dark!"

Merilee laughed. "And totally fandom oriented. I figured you'd like a place like that and it just so happens that I do too."

"You struck me more as a Forever 21 girl."

She snorted. "More like Wal-Mart knock offs. Come on, I'll show you how it's done."

Jazzy and Logan looked to be in deep conversation (with Jazzy doing most of the talking). Merilee sidled up to them and said, "Hey Jazz, Logan? Eli and I are going to Hot Topic, cool?"

Jazzy waved an airy hand in her direction, muttered, "Yeah, whatever," and kept talking. Logan didn't even seem to have noticed Merilee was over there.

She turned back to him, smirking. The rest of the kids were glaring as Merilee attempted to drag Eli away.

"Hang on," he mumbled. "Jazzy," he said, "Can I get a little cash for food?"

She handed him a $100 bill without even looking, and Merilee held out her hand to Logan who passed over two $20s. It was great distracting people into giving up money that wasn't even theirs.

"Be good," Merilee instructed her siblings.

"Raise hell," Eli muttered to the twins, with a too-innocent smile.

Emma and Evan both grinned, and he couldn't have been prouder.

"Let's go," he told Merilee.

* * *

They had stopped off to buy three chocolate chip cookies from the Subway in the food court before heading to Hot Topic because one, they were actually hungry, and two, it was on the way. Merilee paid for them, seeing as she had the smaller bills.

"Here, you get the last one," Eli told her through a mouthful. "You paid for it."

Merilee grinned and shook her head. "That's alright. Wanna split it?"

Eli shrugged. He'd tried being nice, but he really did want more of that cookie, so he wouldn't argue.

By the time they'd made it to Hot Topic, they'd just finished the last bits of their halved cookie.

"I love this store," Merilee said wistfully as they walked through, and even Eli couldn't deny that he felt like a little kid in a candy store every time he walked in.

"Oh my gosh, they have an MCR shirt!" Eli gasped, eyes going wide as he raced to the shirt. "Mer, this was my mom's favorite band! She told me she cried and cried back in 2013 when they broke up."

Merilee smiled and came to stand beside him. "You've got the money," she told him.

"I couldn't." Eli bit his lip, feeling the cash practically burning a hole in his pocket.

"It's just $20." Merilee snorted. "Believe me, your aunt and uncle will never miss it. You need school clothes too. Did you not see how much those clothes the twins were getting cost?"

"That's different," Eli mumbled, clutching the shirt a little tighter in his hands. "They're Austin and Ally's kids. I'm not."

"Well, if you put it like that, neither is Ella." Merilee raised an eyebrow at that. "And if you're thinking that way, I am an only child. In fact, what am I even doing here? We shouldn't be buying any clothes for someone else's kids."

"Merilee."

"Hmm?" She gave him that look, like she knew better than everyone else. It drove him mad.

"Shut up," he told her. "I'm sorry, okay? I get what you mean, and I guess you're kind of right, but it really is different in my case. I'm their nephew. I had a mom. She's gone. With Ella, she never knew Elliot or her mom. All she'd known was Austin and Ally."

"My brothers and sister knew other parents before they came to live with us."

"Also different," Eli said, "but closer. My mom was a good person. Were their parents good?"

That certainly shut her up. Merilee turned away, and Eli could've sworn she wiped her eyes. "No, they weren't," she whispered. "They were awful people. Look, either you get the shirt or you don't. I didn't bring you here to argue."

She walked away, headed towards the Harry Potter stuff. Figured. Eli should've known she would be a Potter chick, and that's the only reason she loved Hot Topic so much.

Eli felt bad. That was the second time in a week he'd been rude to Merilee when she hadn't done anything to deserve it. He sighed and resigned himself to trudging over to where Merilee was standing. She wasn't hard to find. Her hair was the brightest thing in the entire store.

"Mer?"

"What?" She snapped.

"I'm sorry," Eli mumbled.

"What was that? I don't think I heard you."

He rolled his eyes. "I said I was sorry, and I'm not going to say it a third time, so you'd better be listening. I'm sorry I insulted your family by being so flippant about my status in the Moons' household, and I'm sorry for...for what I said to you on the beach. It was unfair to you. I know you were just trying to help, and I'm sorry."

"I thought you said you were only going to say that twice." She smirked at him. Then she shook her head, becoming serious again. "Thank you. I know you didn't mean it, and I'm sorry I overreacted back there. The kids' stories just...really get to me. It wasn't anything about you, really."

Eli cleared his throat. "Good, well I'm glad we got that over with. As much as I hate apologizing, I hate feeling guilty even more."

"You hate everything," Merilee snorted, toying with a grey and yellow tie with what looked like a badger at the bottom of it.

"You want that?" He asked.

She shook her head. "Nah, I don't have my money with me today, and Mom's cash needs to be saved for important stuff like food and school and the kids. I was just surprised they had a Hufflepuff tie. They never have Hufflepuff stuff here."

Eli didn't really care to know what the heck that meant.

"Alright, well you keep looking around and I'll go pay for this shirt."

She beamed at him, and Eli found himself smiling a little too, in spite of himself.

Eli walked up to the counter and dropped the My Chemical Romance t-shirt on it. The cashier had short dyed-blue hair and a nose piercing. She grinned at him. "MCR, huh? Nice taste kid."

"Mhm." Eli wasn't paying attention. He was frowning in Merilee's direction. She kept looking at that ugly yellow tie, even though she was pretending to look at the rest of the stuff surrounding it. Eli turned back to the cashier. "Hey, how much is that Huff-a-something tie over there? The yellow one?"

"More than this shirt," she promised him. "We don't get much Hufflepuff merchandise in the store. It's the least known house, for some reason."

"Yeah, whatever." Eli turned back to her, thinking. "Could you put it on hold for me if I promise to be back within twenty-four hours?"

"Sure kid." She shrugged. "For your girlfriend, I assume?"

Eli snorted. "You assume wrong. I don't even like her."

"Then why get her a gift?"

Why, indeed.

"I guess I sort of owe her."

* * *

 **July 12, 2025**

"Mer, get the door!"

Merilee grumbled in complaint as she paused the TV and rolled off the couch, trudging over to the door. Her mom was in the kitchen, finally home for dinner for the first time in a week. But then, she always tried to be home for Sunday dinner, if an emergency didn't come up

She wrenched the door open and was surprised when she came face to face with Eli Dawson.

"Eli." Her eyes were wide."What are you doing here?"

He was wearing the MCR shirt he'd bought just the day before. "You were right about the shirt," he mumbled. "Ally wasn't mad at all. So here."

Eli thrust a Hot Topic bag at her. Merilee took it, all the while staring at him. She opened it in trepidation, and saw the Hufflepuff tie she'd been drooling over in the store the day before.

Merilee looked up, but Eli was already walking back down her driveway. "Wait, Eli!" She called after him.

He turned, hands in his pockets. "Yeah?"

"Thanks." Merilee grinned so wide her cheeks hurt.

Eli ducked his head and said, "Yeah, whatever. Don't think this means I like you. You still annoy the crap out of me."

He turned to go. Merilee shut the door, still smiling.

"Who was that?" Her mom called.

"A friend," Merilee yelled back. And she could almost believe that was true. Eli might just be coming around to the idea of being Merilee's friend, and nothing could have made her happier.

* * *

 **Hey guys! Sorry for the long wait, but there you go. Next chapter is Toby's eighteenth birthday…**

 ***I don't own anything you might recognize.**

 **God bless you all!**

 **-Daddysgirl11**


	6. Toby's Birthday

**Sabrina (Guest): Your reviews have made me smile so much :) I swear I teared up lol, but in the good way. I am so glad you love my stories so much, especially considering my Sunshine series was sort of my starting point for writing. I so wish you had an account on here so we could PM. There is so much I would like to say here, but then we would never get to the chapter haha. Also, by the way, this chapter would've been out even sooner if I hadn't been a klutz and lost a scene I'd already written months back.**

 **I don't own Austin & Ally**

* * *

 **August 13, 2025**

It was always a struggle, getting everyone up in the morning on the first day back to school after summer break. It was even more of a struggle, Ella mused, when she had to get all three of her siblings, and Jazzy, up and ready by herself. Austin and Ally had wanted to be there so badly for Ella's first day as a senior, but they were under a specific contract that said they couldn't come back home until this Saturday. Ella was grateful for that. Saturday was Toby's eighteenth birthday. They'd never want to miss that.

"Jazzy, please get up," Ella whined, trying to shake her friend awake with one arm while using the other to hold up Jazzy's daughter. April had a strand of Ella's hair wrapped in her hands tightly, and she kept yanking it. Ella didn't have the time to get her hair away from the baby. "Come on, we have to get April to my grandparents' house by 7:15 to be on time for school." No need to add that it was already 7:00.

Jazzy moaned and rolled over, covering her head with a pillow.

"I will leave you here." Ella threatened. "I will take April and the kids, and I will leave you here. You know my parents won't like that."

"They're not here."

"No, but I'm sending them a boatload of pictures today, and I won't hesitate to send them a text, saying how stressed out I am on my first day back to school, my senior year no less, because my _good friend_ Jazzy wouldn't wake up and get her butt ready, so I had to take care of three kids and her baby—"

"Alright, alright, I'm up." Jazzy glared up at Ella, who grinned back. "You're an evil little thing, aren't you?"

"I try." Ella shoved the baby into Jazzy's arms and gently disentangled her hair from April's grasp. "Now hurry up and get ready. I have middle schoolers to boss around."

"Remind me again why you told Toby not to come by and help?"

Ella could not be baited by Jazzy's bad attitude. "Toby has enough on his plate. Alyssa just had her baby, and Aunt Claire's so sick….it wouldn't be right."

"Doesn't he usually drive you to school, though?"

"I'm driving us to school," Ella snapped. "Just get ready. I don't have time for this."

Jazzy shrugged, but didn't argue any further. Ella let out a breath and tried to calm down. Truth be told, she didn't want Toby thinking she was incapable of taking care of things on her own. She'd had him to help her all these years watching the kids, and at the start of the summer he'd seen her almost come apart under the exhaustion of it all. She wanted to prove to him that she was up to the task, and could do it all on her own.

"Hey Ella, what do you think about this?"

Ella turned. Emma was standing just outside her bedroom doorway, wearing a cute sundress with cowgirl boots. She had one strand of her blonde hair pulled up into a braid, and she was wearing mascara and lip gloss. She looked beautiful.

"Oh Em…"

"Is the dress too much?" Emma fretted. "I know you told me last year that wearing a dress on the first day of school makes it seem like you're trying to be hard to be cute, but I really liked it so…"

"Emma, you look gorgeous. Don't change a thing."

Emma beamed up at her.

"Ella, have you seen my—whoa. What are you _wearing_?" Evan stared at his twin in wide-eyed horror.

Ella groaned. Just when she'd convinced Emma that she looked fine….

"Shut up Evan," Emma snapped. "There's nothing wrong with what I'm wearing. It's in dress code and Ella thinks I look fine. So save your crap."

He still stared. "Uh…."

"What?" Emma said, exasperated. She crossed her arms over her chest.

Evan's jaw snapped shut. "You look nice," he said finally. "Just sort of….grown up, I guess."

He didn't look happy about it, either.

"And why aren't you dressed?" Ella demanded of her little brother, directing the attention away from that awkward conversation. She didn't want the twins to get into another fight because of Evan disliking the boy Emma had a crush on, which was obviously where his thoughts were taking him.

Evan frowned up at her. "I was gonna eat first."

"You haven't _eaten_ yet!?"

* * *

Somehow, inexplicably, they all made it to school. When they'd dropped April off at Ella's grandparents' house, Grandma Mimi had gushed over how cute they all looked, taken several pictures, and got their parents on video call for a few minutes. When Austin had seen Emma, his eyes had nearly bulged out of his head, but Ally had had the good sense to push him aside before he could say anything, and tell Emma how pretty she looked. They wished them all good luck on their first day, demanding pictures, texts, and phone calls from them as soon as they got back home.

Jazzy had left the little group as soon as they walked in the door of the school. Ella didn't know, or care, where she went, as long as she wasn't getting into any trouble.

"You're alive!" Toby laughed, meeting them close to the door.

"I told you I could handle it." Ella angled her head up, demanding a kiss. Toby gladly obliged.

"And I did not doubt you for a second, my star."

"You're such a cheeseball," Ella commented, grinning.

"Mhm. And where might my little starlet be?" He made a show of looking over everyone, and when his eyes fell on Emma, he gasped dramatically. "Well this grown thing can't be little Emma Moon! Who might you be, and where is my Emma?"

Eli and Evan both looked annoyed by this show, and both walked away, not wanting to be seen around the three of them any longer. This made Ella grin. She snapped a picture of their retreating figures on her phone, with the caption: "Embarrassed to be seen with us already," and sent it to her parents. Then she took one of Toby hugging Emma, who was grinning ear to ear, her cheeks bright red from his compliments.

"I want you to have the best day ever, and you're to tell me all about it when school's over. But remember, it's fun to sit by your girl friends. Boys are boring to talk to, Em."

"Toby!" Ella laughed and smacked her boyfriend's arm lightly. "Leave her alone." She turned to Emma, winked, and stage-whispered, "Tell Collin I said hi."

They both watched Emma as she walked away, and quickly joined her friend Alli by the gym.

Toby rolled his eyes. "I cannot believe you just told her that. Did you see what she was wearing? That boy 'll be all over her!"

Ella grinned. "You're cute when you're worried about her."

"Give it a rest, you two. Honestly." It was Thalia, coming up beside them, shaking her head. "Do you see Derek and I acting that way?"

Derek, the weirdo, was draped over Thalia's back like a monkey, but luckily not putting all his weight on her.

"I thought you two called it quits over the summer?" Toby raised an eyebrow.

Thalia shrugged, which was impressive considering the gigantic monkey-man on her back. "Ah, but you see, I am a senior this year, and Derek no longer goes to this school. He got a little jealous, thinking of all the guys that would love to go out with me when he's not around to stop them."

"Yeah, speaking of," Ella said, turning her face to look up at Derek's, "why are you here? Not that's I'm not happy to see you but….you do realize you don't go here anymore, right?"

"'S that so?" Derek wondered aloud, the sarcastic jerk as always. "What if I just want to be here for my girl, eh Flaggy?"

"'Flaggy'?" Ella repeated, eyebrows raised. "You do know I'm not on color guard this year, right?"

"Once a flag girl, always a flag girl."

"You're gonna get caught, you know," Toby told his friend with a grin. "I don't know who's going to catch you, but someone will. How long do you plan on keeping this up?"

"Until somebody tells me to get out." Derek shrugged, moving to grab Thalia's hand now instead of laying on top of her.

"Get out," Ella told him with a smile.

"Until someone _important_ tells me to get out," Derek clarified. Ella stuck her tongue out at him.

"That'll most likely be my sister, then," Toby decided. "Or Maddie."

"Well _we_ ," he gestured between himself and Thalia emphatically, "don't have them until last period, so I think it'll be alright."

And surprisingly, it was. No one, in any of Thalia's other classes, had noticed that there was an already graduated student sitting close beside her. One teacher had given him a hard look, close to lunch time, Derek had said, but besides that, no one had paid him any attention. He was a bit put out by this by the time all four of them got to music/theatre.

"Did I make no impression at all?" Derek said, for probably the thousandth time. "I was one of the best players that football field ever saw, but nooooo everyone just wants to talk about the glorious Toby Bentley, who got to be the quarterback in eleventh grade. He overshadowed everyone else."

"Hey!" Toby protested.

"No offense Bentley," Derek mumbled, far too late.

"Jealous much?" Ella giggled at him. He shot her a glare, but Thalia grinned at her.

"Welcome class!" Maddie said, making all eyes turn towards her. Derek, however, was still sulking in his seat with his head down. They were all sitting in the same seats that they'd sat in last year together. "This is going to be an exciting year. My name is Mrs. West, and I'll be your music teacher. And this is Mrs. Wilson, your theatre teacher."

Kelsey stood up. "Yeah, welcome or whatever," she said, making everyone laugh. "I highly doubt all of you are here to learn, but you will be respectful to both me and to Mrs. West while you're in this classroom, and I'll take no bullcrap from any of you. That includes you, Mr. Cole."

Derek's head shot up, eyes wide.

"Yes, I see you," Kelsey continued. "You'd better look up when I'm talking, though, or you'll be out of here so fast your head 'll spin."

Most of the class looked stunned, but Ella caught Maddie's eye, and her aunt winked at her. Ella smothered another giggle behind her hand. Clearly, the two sister-in-laws had talked about Derek being in here, and decided not to make too big a deal out of it.

"As long as he works," they'd told Ella after class, when she'd asked, "we don't mind him sitting in."

"You're in," Ella then told Derek, shaking her head with a disbelieving grin. "God only knows how you made it the whole day without anyone noticing, but you're in with them. They said as long as you work, you can stay."

* * *

 **August 17, 2025**

Eventually, someone had recognized Derek, and told one of the teachers he no longer went to school there, that they'd seen him graduate. But Mr. Derek Cole was not one to be underestimated. He was currently studying at a community college online, and he worked out a deal with the principle that he'd be allowed to stay on campus during regular school hours, as long as he didn't interrupt any of the classes he sat in, and he did his online college courses too. Also, as long as he helped with football practices, a condition Derek was all too happy to comply with. He got what he'd wanted. Another year of high school, without the work.

Ella had no idea how he did it. All week long he'd spent in the majority of Thalia's classes. Sometimes he'd stay in one of Ella's or Toby's classes, depending on how bored he got and if Thalia was allowed to talk or not. If not, he usually left for some excitement.

Today, however, was not a time Ella spent revelling in Derek Cole's ability to come back to school after graduation. It was Toby's eighteenth birthday. Ella had spent weeks trying to think of the perfect gift for him. It was so hard. And she wasn't allowed, by special request of the birthday boy himself, to buy him an actual car. Ella wasn't all that happy about the gift she'd ended up getting him, but Toby might like it.

"Ella, stop your bouncing up and down," her mom chastised with a smile. "Toby will be here in a minute."

"I hope he likes my gift."

"I'm sure he'll love it," said her dad this time. "But it might've helped if you'd have bothered to tell us what it was. You could've gotten some feedback Sunshine."

Ella rolled her eyes. "You know we like to keep our gifts for each other a secret. It's been that way—"

"Since you were six," they both cut in.

"We know," Ally added, grinning. Ella sighed again.

"Well I can't help it if I thought that toy car he got me was such a special gift. He was six and didn't tell his mother he'd gotten it for me."

"You didn't even like cars," Austin pointed out.

Ella stuck her tongue out at him. "It's the thought that counts, Daddy. Again, we were six, and he made it. We played cars together all the time and it was a representation of our childhood friendship."

The kids were sitting on the couch, watching this whole exchange.

Eli said, "You still have that car, don't you?"

Ella blushed all the way to the roots of her hair. "Maybe."

The twins snorted, and her parents laughed.

"She keeps it on her shelf," Emma giggled. "It's her pride and joy. She likes it more than her real car."

Ella shrugged. "I'm a sentimental girl, and I hated driving. What can I say?"

"You didn't hate driving, you were terrified of it!" Evan, of course, always called her out on her nonsense. But that was just Evan's way.

"Well I'm not anymore, so ha!" She stuck her tongue out at him like a little kid, which he retaliated in suit.

"Would you four stop acting like kids?" Ally was exasperated as she went to pick up the phone. "Hello? Oh, hi Claire. He's on his way?"

Ella leaned forward, and Ally glanced up, nodding at her. This sent Ella rushing to the window so she could see when he pulled up. She wondered what his parents had gotten him for his birthday. Probably not another car. That had been his sixteenth birthday present, and they'd just recently gotten Alyssa a car.

Sure enough, a few minutes later, Toby pulled up in the same old car he'd always had. Ella really wished he'd let her buy him a truck or something. Maybe when they were older.

He had a bright smile on his face as he opened the door, not bothering to knock, of course, because he had his own key. "What's up M—"

He didn't get to finish his sentence, because Ella practically flung herself at him, and he had to stop to catch her. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" She squealed.

Toby laughed, slightly out of breath, and set her aside. "Well hello to you too Star."

Emma was next, but she didn't have quite the same impact of almost knocking Toby over that Ella had had when she barreled into him. Ally hugged him after Emma, Austin clapped him on the back, and Evan settled for a "manly" fist-bump, which turned into a guy hug because Toby thought he was being hilarious and ridiculous. Eli stayed where he was, but he did say, "Happy birthday man."

Toby nodded. "Thanks dude."

"No more guy adjectives," Emma decided then and there, making everyone laugh.

"So what'd you get?" Ella asked excitedly, grabbing at her boyfriend's arm.

He grinned. "My parents have finally decided that I don't have to have something to unwrap for my birthday. I got cash."

Evan looked fascinated. "Not even a gift card? Mom, why can't we get cash?"

Ally rolled her eyes. "You have enough money as it is, young man. I refuse to spoil you with more. You'll get presents until the day I'm dead, got it?"

Evan huffed and hung his head. "Yes ma'am."

Ella giggled at her brother's 'misfortune' and turned back to Toby. "Have your sisters or brother given you anything yet?"

"Well Alyssa's been a bit preoccupied, but she told me her present will come later. Kelsey told me she'd give me a day off class if she didn't have to give me a present, and then laughed when I said that was fine and handed me a new wallet and a matchbox car. The car was a stipulation from Mia, apparently."

Ella beamed at that, thrilled at the happiness in Toby's voice by the cute gift his niece had gotten him. "Porter called to wish me a happy birthday, and….I'd rather not say what his gift was."

He shot a glance towards Ella's parents, who were never as oblivious as people thought.

"Was it alcohol?" Evan demanded.

Toby's face went red. "No, Evan, it wasn't alcohol. You realize my brother's a cop, right? And that I'm underage?"

He shrugged. "You're being secretive for a reason."

"Well I don't care if _you_ know." And then Ella understood. He didn't want this getting back to his parents. Which meant it had to have something to do with racing.

Ella would beat Porter upside the head if he'd told Toby what his surprise was this afternoon.

Apparently Ally was thinking along the same lines, because she gave Ella _the look_ and she knew they'd be having a little chat about this later, where Ally would try and get Ella to convince Toby to leave the tracks for good, because she believed that Ella, for some reason, was the only person who could keep Toby from racing again.

"Well," said Ally, changing the subject, "apparently we think a lot like your parents, because here's mine and Austin's gift to you."

"You didn't have to get me anything," Toby told them, but he smiled and accepted the card Ella's mom handed him. Inside was a very sweet paragraph (all written in Ally's handwriting) about how much they loved him, and how he was like a son to them. Toby seemed a little choked up when he thanked them.

"Did you think that was all?" Austin raised an eyebrow, before handing Toby a money-sized envelope. "Kid, we've never not gotten you anything. We weren't _just_ going to get you a card."

"I like the card," Toby said defensively. Ella's dad waved the money around, and Ella knew he wouldn't stop until Toby took it. Also knowing how stubborn Toby could be, Ella snatched the envelope out of her father's hand and shoved it in Toby's face.

"Open it," she demanded. "Or we're going to be late for school."

"Ella, it's Saturday," Eli reminded her.

"What?" Ella pulled out her phone to check. "Well I'll be. You're right."

"Don't sound so surprised."

Toby sighed and took the envelope anyway. "No way," he told Ella's parents, trying to hand the money back to them when he saw how much was inside.

"Yes way." Ally told him, locking her hands in front of her.

Austin did the same. "You're making our daughter happy, and if my Sunshine is happy, then so am I. Plus, it's your eighteenth birthday. Spend it however you wish."

"Austin." Toby looked bewildered.

Ella frowned. "How much is it?"

"A hundred dollars," he whispered.

Eli looked shocked. The twins didn't. That was a testament to how well they were used to Austin and Ally giving out large sums of money.

"Try not to look so uncomfortable," Ella whispered in his ear. "They really like giving gifts."

Emma stood up then. "My turn."

Toby's head shot up. "What? No. Emma, you always piggybacked on your parents' or Ella's gift."

Emma shrugged. "And now I'm older. But I didn't get you this gift alone. It's from the three of us." She gestured back at Evan and Eli, who remained sitting on opposite ends of the couch.

Toby took the gift from her, eyeing her warily. It was a tiny gift bag, but it was decorated all fancy in Florida footballs and car stickers. Ella rolled her eyes at the Florida stuff, but still thought it was cute.

"Open it," Emma urged. "If you don't open it, we'll be very disappointed." She gave him the puppy dog look. _Ah Emma_ , Ella thought, _I have taught you well little sister._

Toby grumbled something about the Moons being way too nice, and opened the present. He groaned when he saw what it was. "A fifty dollar Fandango card?"

"It's about fifteen dollars from each of us," Emma said, looking very content with herself.

"It's too much," Toby said again.

"It's your eighteenth birthday," Austin told him, chuckling. "Live a little. Learn to accept gifts. They're not given much."

"None of you better spend a dime on me for Christmas," Toby threatened. "I'm serious."

Everyone laughed. Toby sulked a little.

"Hey," Ella said, placing her hands on her hips. "No pouting on your birthday. You still haven't opened my gift."

Toby looked ready to argue, but Ella held up her hand. "Toby, I swear if you say I didn't need to get you anything, I'm going to slap you."

"With a frying pan?" Evan added slyly.

"Shut up." Ella rolled her eyes at her sister and then glanced back at Toby. "If you don't like it, I'm sure I can find you something else."

"It's not money then?"

Ella smiled. "No, it's not money. Have you met me?"

"And it's not a car?"

"Nope. Although I still wish you'd let me buy you a truck."

"Ella…"

"Fine." Ella moved to retrieve her gift from behind the couch, and the twins groaned.

"Why didn't we think to look there?" Evan whispered.

"We did," Emma grumbled in response. "It hasn't always been there."

Ella smiled and went to give the gift to Toby. Hers was a box wrapped in yellow paper, because hey, everyone should be happy on their birthday. She's placed a silver bow on top of the small box, which Toby promptly took off and stuck on top of Ella's head.

"Now _that's_ a present." He laughed.

Ella went red and tried to pull the bow out of her hair. But Toby insisted she keep it on.

Ella knew her whole family was laughing silently (or not so silently) at her. Oh well. As long as Toby liked the gift she got him, she'd live.

"Wow Ells, this is a really nice watch." Toby admired the watch as he pulled it out of the box. Ella really hoped he wouldn't ask how much it cost, because she might just have to lie. If he thought her parents' and siblings' gifts were too much…

"Look at the back," Ella told him, biting her lip.

Toby turned the watch over, and his eyes went wide. Ella had had an inscription put on the back of the watch that said: _Toby, let us race towards the stars together. You are my forever. With all my love, Ella._

She hoped it was enough, but she began to feel nervous when Toby just continued to stare at the back of the watch without looking up or saying anything.

No one said anything. Finally, after what seemed like an immeasurable amount of time, Toby looked up, and this time the moisture in his eyes was a bit more pronounced. "Oh Ella, I love it."

Toby held out his arms, and Ella gladly stepped into his embrace. She could hear cheering behind her, and Emma's not-so-subtle wolf-whistle, but she didn't care. What mattered was that Toby was happy. "You really liked it?" She mumbled against his neck.

"I really, _really_ do," he said earnestly. "Thank you."

Ella beamed at him. "You up for visiting our _dear_ friends?"

Toby rolled his eyes. "I swear, if they got me something too…"

"You'll love it and be grateful," Ella told him, dragging him towards the front door. "Bye guys!" she shot back at her family, who were watching the two teenagers leave in amusement.

"Yeah, bye!" Toby called, already being drug out the door. "Thanks for the presents!"

* * *

"Come on kiddo, keep up!" Toby laughed as he jogged up the stairs to Jazzy's apartment, Ella several paces behind.

"Shut up Toby, I'm only a week younger than you."

He did this for every special birthday. When he turned ten and Ella was still nine, he talked about how young single digit kids were. When he turned thirteen and Ella was still twelve, he joked about her still being a preteen while he was reaping the benefits of being a teenager. And now, he's complaining about having to babysit the minor, because he'd been an adult for all of three hours and she wouldn't turn eighteen for another week.

Ella was panting by the time they made it up the stairs. "Why does Jazzy have to live on the top floor?"

Toby grinned and kissed her cheek. "Wanna take the elevator next time?"

Ella wasn't one for heights, and she didn't like how the only thing holding up elevators were those little wires, but those stairs were murder. "Definitely."

"Your heart okay?" He tried to keep his smile up when he asked this, but Ella could tell that Toby was always worried when he asked her about her heart.

"Still beating." Ella managed a weak smile as she said this breathlessly.

"Yeah, but how fast is it beating?"

"I dunno, I can't count that fast."

Toby put his hand to her chest in a wasted attempt to count her heart beats. But just then, the door opened.

"Whoa, didn't mean to walk in on your second base," Derek said, grinning jerkish-ly at them. Both of them scowled, but Toby did step back.

"She was having a spell you moron," Thalia said, stepping forward to hug Ella. "How ya doing?"

"I'm good." Ella rolled her eyes.

She heard Derek mutter, "I bet she is," which caused Toby to whack him upside the head.

"Welcome to my humble abode," Jazzy said, stretching out one hand in welcome and holding the baby with the other. "Oh, and happy birthday Toby."

"April!" Ella squealed, all thoughts of her racing heart pushed from her mind. She rushed forward to intercept the baby from her mama and held her to her chest, breathing in her familiar baby smell. "Oh how I've missed you, sweet baby."

April cooed in delight, making Ella's heart clench. She hadn't seen the baby since Jazzy and April had packed up and moved out two days after school started. Jazzy was in school, but April was being babysat by Ella's grandparents, or sometimes by one of the Murphys.

"Present time!" said Thalia, who was a no-nonsense person. "Whoa, Toby. Where'd you get that snazzy watch there?"

Toby grinned over at Ella. "A birthday gift from my insane girlfriend."

Thalia whistled. "Wow, this thing must've cost a fortune."

Ella blanched. "Not really, but Toby and I don't like to go into how much we spend on each other's gifts. It's a watch. It tells time." Among other things, like expressing Ella's love.

Toby looked a bit uncomfortable when he glanced at the watch, but he smiled when he saw Ella staring. "That's exactly right. I love this watch."

Uh oh. Did that mean he didn't? Or was he upset by Thalia's comment? Ella bit her lip, anxious now.

Toby could always read her, though. "Seriously Ells, I love it. And you don't have to tell me how much you spent." He turned to Thalia, shaking his head with a defeated sort of grin. "She wanted to buy me a truck."

"You're invited to all my birthdays," Derek decided, then and there, and everyone laughed.

* * *

Toby seemed pretty content by the gifts his friends had gotten him. Derek had managed to get one of the Florida players to sign a football for him. Thalia had gotten them all five tickets to a concert from some up-and-coming band Toby liked a lot. They were all a little surprised she'd been thoughtful enough to include Jazzy in their plans. Jazzy was especially surprised. Ella knew she believed Thalia hated her guts, but Ella knew better. Thalia didn't particularly like Jazzy all that much yet, but she didn't know her. New people intimidated Thalia. This was a sign that she slowly seemed to be accepting there might be another person added to their little group.

Jazzy told Toby he had two gifts, but one of them was joined with Ella's eighteenth birthday present, so he'd have to wait another week for that one.

"That's fine," Toby laughed, but it was obvious he was now very curious to see what Jazzy could've gotten that was a gift to both him and Ella.

"It's not much," Jazzy said, handing over her gift.

Toby grinned. "Well that's great then. I tried to tell you people not to get me anything expensive."

He tore into the paper, never saving it like the savage beast Ella had once compared him to around their twelfth birthdays. "Wow." Toby's eyes widened as he stared down at some type of box. "Jazzy...where'd you get these?"

Ella leaned forward to see what Toby was staring at. It was a simple box, but there were about a hundred cards inside, about the size of regular playing cards. They looked like baseball cards, but that couldn't be right. Toby was a football player. He didn't care about baseball. Although, Jazzy might not have known that.

But no, it wasn't baseball cards. Toby pulled one out, and Ella could see race cars.

Jazzy shrugged. "My dad liked racing, and he bought me cards when I was little. I never much cared for it. Don't know why I kept them. I found a few more recent cards here and there at little sidewalk sales, and I thought you might like them. It's sort of a birthday/thank you present."

Toby grinned. "Wow, thanks Jazz, I love it."

Ella tamped down the twinge of jealousy she felt when Toby hugged Jazzy. Whenever she felt that way, she was reminded of the countless times Toby had assured her that she was the only girl he'd ever love. She was also reminded of the day Jazzy blatantly explained where she stood in the situation.

* * *

 **April 1, 2025**

Junior year Music and Theatre was brutal in the last couple months of school. Ella had to keep leaning forward, trying to hear what Kelsey and Maddie were saying up at the front of the classroom, but Jazzy kept whining beside her in the back. Luckily this was the only class Ella and Jazzy shared.

"Will this ever end?" Jazzy demanded, eyes squinting up as she rubbed her back. At thirty-three weeks along, it was safe to say the girl was very, very pregnant. Needless to say, Jazzy was ready to get that baby out of her, and soon.

"Shh," Ella hissed. "I'm trying to listen."

Toby leaned back in his chair and grinned at her. Somehow, much to Ella's dismay, Jazzy was sitting between the two of them. Ella was against the wall, and when Toby had went to sit beside her, Jazzy scooted in first.

"I'm just saying," Jazzy complained in a lower voice. "I mean, come on. Pregnant teenage girls should not have to go to school in their third trimester."

Ella had to close her eyes and count to ten. "I'm not even going to bother telling you what's wrong with that sentence."

Jazzy gasped and grabbed her arm. "Ella."

Ella sighed and rolled her eyes. "Fine, I'm sorry. That was mean to say."

At the front of the classroom, Maddie was lecturing a couple of boys while Kelsey attempted to pry open the desk drawer in the corner of the room. Apparently the boys had glued it shut as an April Fools prank.

"Dufuses," Toby muttered.

"Ella, for real," Jazzy said, a tinge of urgency in her voice.

Ella glanced her way, because Jazzy _was_ gripping her arm pretty tight. "What's your deal now?'

"I think I'm in labor," Jazzy gasped out, as if in pain.

Toby sat up straight in his seat. "What?" His eyes were wide.

Ella huffed indignantly and snatched her arm away. "Jazzy, that is so not funny. I like April Fools Day as much as the next person, but don't try and tell me you're in labor. That's mean."

Jazzy made a low, whining noise in the back of her throat.

"Ella, I don't think she's joking," Toby said worriedly.

Ella frowned. "Of course she is," she said, praying to God she was right. "It's April Fools Day. Awfully convenient, hmm?"

But it was kind of hard to argue against the paleness of Jazzy's skin and the look of barely controlled pain that crossed her face when she spoke.

"Ella, I swear I'm not kidding," Jazzy said in a low, panicked voice. "Please," she squeaked, "help?"

 _Crap._

Ella jumped up. "Mrs. West!"

Maddie stopped lecturing the boys, mid sentence. Her eyes were wide as she said, "Yes? What is it Ella?"

Ella looked nervously at the pregnant girl beside her as Toby attempted to help her to her feet. "Can we be excused?" Ella begged.

"What for?" Kelsey asked, coming to stand beside her sister-in-law.

"Because your student is in labor," Toby snapped up at his sister. "Now can we go? Or would you rather she drop her baby on your glossy tiled floors, Mrs. Wilson?"

Ella knew he'd pay for that comment later on, maybe both at school and at home, but it got the job done. Maddie and Kelsey immediately excused the three of them, ushering them all out of the classroom without a word about calling an ambulance or telling one of them to come back in the classroom, that it didn't take all three of them to have a baby. The two of them knew better than try try any of that crap on Ella or Toby.

Toby held onto Jazzy as Ella ushered them through the hallways and towards the parking lot, trying to hurry. Eventually, Toby just ended up picking Jazzy up in his arms and carrying her to his car for the last several yards, because Jazzy had cried out in pain again and had tried to stop in the middle of the road.

"Strap her in," Toby directed Ella, as soon as he set Jazzy in the backseat. Ella climbed in back with her to help buckle her seatbelt while Toby hopped in the driver's seat and floored it as soon as the key was in the ignition.

Ella yelped, having been thrown backwards the second he took off because she'd been busy strapping Jazzy in the backseat instead of herself.

"Seatbelt," Toby barked out, and then glanced in the rear view mirror, still going the same speed, and said in a much softer tone, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, just drive," Ela said, strapping herself in with a gasp that was more surprise than anything else. She'd been in the car with Toby when he was going fast, but never when he was going this speed.

"Hunter's on patrol today," Toby laughed derisively. "Hope he doesn't decide to pull me over."

"Maybe slow down just a smidge?" Ella suggested.

It was barely noticeable when the needle dropped from 80 to 75 on the speedometer.

"Thank you Toby," Jazzy said, holding her hand tightly to her bulging stomach. "You've been wonderful."

Ella huffed, maybe a little too loudly, because Toby glanced in the mirror a second time, and Jazzy turned her head to look at her.

"Seriously Ella?" She said, shaking her head in what might have been disgust. Ella recoiled a little.

"What?"

"I'm in labor here and you're still worried about me stealing your stupid boyfriend?" She snapped. Then quickly, "Not that you're stupid, Toby."

"I'm not worried—" Ella started, but Jazzy cut her off.

"Yes you are. You've been worried about that since the second I showed up on your doorstep. You've thought all along that I wanted to steal him out from under your nose." She jerked her thumb towards the front seat. Ella tried to stammer out an apology, but Jazzy wouldn't let her get a word out. "No, listen to me. You were right."

Ella blinked wide eyed. "I was?"

"She was?" Toby repeated from the front, equally surprised, maybe more so.

"Yes," Jazzy said simply, and then cried out as another contraction hit. Ella grabbed her hand, despite the words she'd been saying. Jazzy had been trying to steal Toby all along, and she was admitting it?

She let out a shallow breath when the contraction was over, and then looked Ella directly in the eyes, squeezing her hand tighter. "Yes," she said again. "You were right. I did want Toby when I first got here. It's the hero complex thing, I think. I don't usually go for his type."

"Nice to know," Toby mumbled dryly. Ella couldn't help smiling a little.

Jazzy rolled her eyes and smiled at Ella. "You never had anything to worry about, you know. He's only ever had eyes for you. Even I could see that. I was determined to change that but—" at this she shrugged. "—some things just aren't meant to be. I moved on, and Toby never once looked at me that way. Which is fine, by the way," she added, turning her head to the front seat briefly. "I think I found someone a little more mysterious and a lot more available."

Ella felt herself grinning. "And who might that be?"

Jazzy snorted. "Uh uh. You're not getting it out of me that easily. We're friends now, but it'll take a lot of diaper changes and offers to babysit for us to be besties," she laughed.

Ella grinned. "You got yourself a deal." She held out her hand.

Jazzy grasped it...and then almost broke it when another contraction hit, making her yelp in pain and grip Ella's hand with all her might.

Ella was sure she yelped too. "Drive Toby!"

* * *

 **Back to Present**

Ella found herself smiling and pulling Jazzy into a hug herself. Because as frustrated as Ella had been with Jazzy since the girl had had the baby and became her friend, they _were_ friends, and good ones too. Jazzy might be annoying as crap and get simple gifts that outshine the most expensive ones in the room, but she was still a great friend and Ella figured she'd be there if Ella needed anything.

"Well I hate to cut this short," Ella said, "but before the sun goes down, Toby has another surprise waiting for him, so we'd better head on out."

Derek snaked his arms around Thalia's middle and kept her from getting up as he buried himself deeper against Jazzy's new couch. "Have fun, but we're staying here until it's requested we leave."

"It's requested," Thalia said, straining to get out of his grasp.

"No way," Derek snorted. "I want some more of that cake. And _you_ said you wanted to hold the baby."

Ella grinned. She kissed baby April on the top of her little head, and then thrust her into a surprised Thalia's arms. "Have fun you four!" Ella called, pushing her boyfriend towards the door.

Toby, however, had to say goodbye to everyone individually first. He kissed April's head, hugged Jazzy and Thalia, and clapped Derek on the back, because the idiots were still too stubborn to actually hug one another.

"What's my surprise?" Toby asked skeptically, as soon as the door closed behind them. "Not another present…?"

"Not from me or my family," Ella laughed. "Promise."

"Then who…?"

"You'll see."

* * *

"Dude," Toby said, eyes bugging, "that's wicked."

Porter stood against Toby's racecar, grinning. He'd totally revamped the thing. It had once been old and rusty looking, with a few local ads here and there on the sides that sponsored Toby's racing for him to help pay the rent so he didn't have to ask his parents for the money. Now, however, the car looked _epic_. His brother totally pimped his ride.

Toby ran his hands reverently over the car he so loved to drive. "How did you get the permission to do this?"

He honestly hoped Porter had been smart enough to actually get permission to do this to the car, or they'd both be in a load of trouble. Of course, Porter being a cop and all, they could probably get away with it somewhat, but still, Toby would rather have permission.

"The people who own your car wanna see it looking better than the hunk of junk it was before, just as much as you do," Porter laughed. "They didn't care."

Toby turned and pulled his brother into a hug. "Thanks, Porter. This is awesome!"

Porter chuckled, patting Toby's back. "Anything for you, little bro. Go on, take a spin in it."

Toby was almost jumping with excitement. He turned to Ella, beaming, and noticed she was gnawing on her bottom lip, even as she smiled.

Ella was his other half, and could never so easily hide her feelings from him. Toby came over and put his hands on her shoulders. "I don't have to while you're here, you know. You don't have to watch." He knew how scared she was after the last time she'd seen him on the tracks. That was when he'd crashed so hard.

She shook her head determinedly. "I'm not leaving out of fear. This is what you love to do, and I will support you in it, even if it scares me. Plus, it's your birthday. Get out there, tiger."

Toby grinned at her, kissing her quickly on the cheek and then rushing over to the car and starting the engine.

"He'll be fine." Porter said, sidling up next to her. "He's a tough kid, and a heck of a good driver. He was just upset last time."

"I know." Ella hooked her arm through Porter's and watched as Toby sped around the laps. She couldn't see his face, but she could practically feel the joy radiating off him, even from this distance.

This was what it meant to love someone with all your heart, she thought. Sticking with them in the scary and sometimes dangerous situations, even if you didn't always like it, because you knew it made them happy, and their happiness was what mattered most to you.

 _Happy Birthday, my love,_ Ella thought, and went with Toby's brother to cheer him on in the empty stands.

* * *

 **Whew, there you have it folks. Been a while, huh? Sorry, I have no excuses really for anything earlier than May. Hope you'll forgive me, and I'll try to update sooner next time. Next chapter should be Ella's birthday!**

 **Side note: I was very happy to find out, when I went to Zaxby's a couple months back, that it's not just baseball cards, and these race car cards do exist lol. Shows I know nothing about this stuff.**

 ***I don't own anything you might recognize.**

 **God bless you all!**

 **-Daddysgirl11**


	7. Ella's Birthday

***sighs* I know, I know, I'm like a whole year and a half late again. I can no longer make any promises on update times, just that I'll finish it. And I'll finish Already There too even though it's been like a two and a half years.**

 **So here it is! Ella's eighteenth birthday! Oh, my baby is all grown up *wipes tear* Although technically, if we're going by when she was born, this would be Ella's ninth birthday. She was born in 2009.**

 **Also note that I am a Hufflepuff and anything I say to criticize it is not my views. I love my house. (Harry Potter reference, for those of you who didn't know. And if you didn't, go read and watch them.)**

 **Side note: I recently got a review for Sunshine (yeah, that takes me way back) that said "good but too short" and I'm laughing right now because like… yeah, I realize it's way too short. I wrote it when I was twelve and had no concept of basic grammar rules lol. But hey if I still have readers at this point that means you guys watched my writing mature as I did and saw something in the plot that intrigued you enough to stick around. So thank you guys from the bottom of my heart for that. You started my writing career.**

 **I don't own Austin & Ally**

* * *

 **August 24, 2025**

Ella's birthday would never be a surprise. One, it was a week after Toby's, and two, her family planned things for way too long to ever let there be a surprise.

She woke up that morning to hesitant knocking on her door. Almost assuredly it was Eli; everyone else in her family rarely knocked. Eli, however, was still enough of a newcomer to believe it was his place to knock on the rare occasions he had to go in someone else's room

"Come in!" Ella sat up quickly and rubbed her eyes to look more awake.

"You got mail," Eli announced, entering. "Two from the Women's Correctional Facility," at this he raised his eyebrows, "and one is from the Caribbean."

"Okay, thanks Eli." She grabbed them and tore one open. The one from the Caribbean was from her parents' costars and the crew, because apparently Austin and Ally had been boasting loudly about their oldest daughter turning eighteen.

Eli sat at the end of her bed. He was holding an art portfolio. This was not unusual; Eli carried art supplies around like a child carried a blanket or a favorite toy. Ella guessed it was something to keep him grounded.

"Who do you know in prison?" Eli asked.

Ella's fingers trembled slightly as she opened the next one. "Too many people," she admitted. The first of these was from her biological grandmother. She tried not to grimace at that. Tina Freeman was trying to be better, and Ella should respect that.

Then she opened the last card. This one said:

 _Ella,_

 _Happy Birthday my darling daughter. You're an adult now, and I can hope you'll make better decisions than I did at your age because you were raised better than me, and from what I've heard, you are already a wonderful young woman._

 _I am writing you this not just to wish you a happy birthday, but also to tell you some news. I am being released from prison a week from your birthday. I wish I could be there for you on your actual birthday, but I know you may not have wanted that. So I am telling you this in case you decide to seek me out at some point. I have been given special permission to live with Elliot, and I assume you know where he is staying. I will understand if you do not wish to see me. Have a wonderful birthday, my child._

 _Sam_

Ella blinked back tears. "What is it?" Eli asked.

"Nothing." Ella put the cards in her side drawer (which conveniently had a lock on it) and smiled at her little brother. "What's up?"

"Happy Birthday," he told her, pulling open his portfolio. Ella beamed, crawling forward on her bed. It was a long sheet of paper, almost poster sized, that had been hardened somehow, and Ella's eyes widened when she saw what it was a picture of.

"Oh my gosh, is that me and Toby?!" Ella demanded, shocked. It _was_ them, but Ella didn't recall that picture ever being taken of them. She was wearing a long yellow dress, and the front strands of her hair had been pulled back into a braid. Toby was wearing a black suit and tie, and his brown hair fell almost over his eyes, and they were _dancing_. The last time Toby had danced with her was at Kelsey and Hunter's wedding, and she'd been wearing purple then, and that was long before she'd known Eli existed. Ella was fairly certain she and Toby had never worn these outfits, and hadn't danced together like this.

"Where…" Ella was flabbergasted. "How in the world did you do this, Eli? This is us, but I don't remember…"

"Artistic interpretations of the classics." Eli's face reddened slightly as he looked down. "Your dress is like the one Emma Watson wore in those Beauty and the Beast posters. I know your favorite color is yellow. And I saw a picture of Toby in a suit somewhere. And you love dancing so much… It really wasn't that hard to get your body types in those clothes and make it look like you're dancing."

Ella set the painting aside gently, and, much to Eli's apparent shock, pulled him into a tight hug. "Thank you so very much Eli. I love it!"

"There's a decoy present for everyone else to see you open," he mumbled. "It's a necklace Emma picked out. I think she figured I didn't get you anything, and besides, I wanted you to see this away from everyone else…"

Eli didn't like to showcase his artistic abilities to anyone, even though everyone knew he liked to draw. This was the first thing Eli had allowed Ella to look at that he'd made, and she was so touched, and so very mesmerized by how amazing an artist he was. It was like looking at a photograph of a fantasy. _Her_ fantasy.

"Well, I will treasure it always," Ella said, touching her hand to his cheek.

Eli looked uncomfortable. He cleared his throat and stood up, making Ella drop her hand. "Ally said to tell you that breakfast is ready when you wake up. She made your favorite."

Ella had been expecting as much from her loving mother, but hearing it confirmed still made her jump up, squeal "PANCAKES!" and run out of the room like a child on Christmas morning.

* * *

Upon hearing her shout, Austin and Emma weren't but a few steps behind Ella when she arrived in the kitchen. And even though pancakes were not his favorite breakfast item, Evan, of course, was already seated in the kitchen chowing down. That boy sure loved to eat.

Eli was a little surprised to see that Toby wasn't there yet. His big sister's boyfriend was almost always there when they got up, and this was Ella's birthday.

However, as surprised as Eli was to not see Toby, he was that much more surprised to see Merilee Ingram sitting at their kitchen table beside Evan.

"These pancakes are fantastic Mrs. Moon," Merilee said through a mouthful.

"Ally, please," Ally laughed, handing her a napkin, which she took, blushing.

Eli couldn't help but speak up now, he was just too confused. "Where did you come from?"

Merilee raised an eyebrow at him. "Well you see, when a mommy and a daddy think they love each other—"

"Not what I meant."

"Well I'm obviously here to wish Ella a happy birthday and give her a present. Duh."

Ella looked delighted. "Awe, Merilee, you didn't have to get me a present."

"It's from the whole family. The kids made the card," Merilee informed her.

Eli cautiously took a seat nearby and glanced at the card, where there were a bunch of crayon scribbles and kiddie writing.

"You sure you didn't write that?" Austin asked, grinning, as he patted Merilee's shoulder.

"Ha ha." Merilee grinned.

Emma was looking at her kind of funny. "Hey, cool tie. Hufflepuff right?"

Eli's head snapped up, and he looked at what Merilee was wearing. The jeans and the white shirt were nothing abnormal, but that God-awful ugly tie certainly was, to him anyway. And he still didn't have a clue why he'd bought it for her in the first place.

Merilee blushed and nodded, keeping her eyes away from Eli's, which was fine by him.

Emma nodded appreciatively. "That's cool. I'm a Ravenclaw. Ella's a Gryffindor."

"Seriously?" Merilee turned to Ella with an eyebrow raised.

Ella looked mock-offended. "Hey, there's nothing wrong with being a Gryffindor."

Emma said, "They're so overrated," and Merilee agreed.

Eli groaned and walked out of the room with just a banana. He was so not in the mood to listen to talks about Harry Potter. Especially after Merliee had compared him to the boy wizard.

He was planning on just going back up to his room, when he heard footsteps behind him. Already knowing who it'd be, he stopped and, without turning, asked, "What is it Merilee?"

"I come bearing gifts."

He turned now, eyebrow raised, and saw she was holding a plate of really delicious looking breakfast food. His mouth watered just looking at it. Ally may've been a superstar in the famous world for her singing and acting, but here she was a superstar to Eli for her cooking.

"Why did you bring me that?" Eli had to force himself not to immediately grab the food and make a run for it.

Merilee rolled her eyes impatiently. "Because your family is in the kitchen enjoying your sister's birthday, and they'd like you to be a part of that. They're not going to force it, but I know Ella wants you there eating breakfast with her on her special day."

"So suddenly you're an Ella expert?"

Merilee frowned in confusion. "Did I do something to upset you?"

No, she hadn't. And that was the problem. She was worming her way into his life, and Eli did not want that. He wanted to stay secluded. He didn't want friends, or whatever Merilee was. He didn't want to grow closer to her. He didn't even want to see her more than he had to. He'd only bought her that stupid tie because she'd looked so sad. Apparently, that had been a mistake, because now she thought there was a chance she could still get him to be her friend.

"No, nothing," Eli mumbled, taking the food from her hands with a grudging "thanks" and went back into the kitchen.

* * *

Merilee sighed as she watched Eli's retreating figure. So it was back to square one with them huh? He acted like they hadn't walked around the mall together for an entire afternoon, and like he hadn't bought her the very thing she'd wanted most from her favorite store.

Boys were so confusing.

She went back into the kitchen and decided it was time to say her goodbyes to the Moon family.

"You're leaving?" Ella asked, seeming genuinely like she wanted her to stick around.

Merilee didn't know how to take Ella Dawson Moon. She'd hated her for years just simply because Ella and Toby seemed destined for each other. Now, however, Merilee was starting to grow out of her crush, just a bit. And she realized Ella was a really nice person, a person Merilee had ignored and been rude to for far too long. After all, she was an adopted kid just like Merilee's brothers and sister, and Eli. Merilee could kind of relate to her.

"Yeah," Merilee said casually, "I've got lots to do at home. I'll see you guys later."

Eli kept his head down as she left.

Okay, confession time. Merilee was not going home. She was going to Jazzy's new apartment and then probably the hospital. Her mom had told her it was getting close to flu season, but that didn't stop her. Merilee _would_ see her mother as often if she could, and hey, if she got sick, Jenna would have to take off work to take care of her. It was a win-win.

Merilee knew most people, her family definitely included, considered these antics ridiculous and immature, but she didn't care. At home, Merilee was the oldest, the one expected to be responsible for the little ones. Even though her aunts, uncles and grandparents were often over to babysit, the kids preferred her nine times out of ten, just because she was there with them all the time. Also, she understood them. They wanted Jenna home just as much as Merilee did. Unfortunately for all of them, Jenna was the only person that provided for them, and therefore had to work constantly.

It wasn't fair. Jenna was only home at the dinner table about once a week and was so rushed at breakfast they had no time for any real conversation. Merilee missed her mom.

Jazzy answered the door about three minutes after Merilee had started knocking. After the second knock she'd yelled, "Just a minute!" and Merilee had had to wait out in the hallway of Jazzy's apartment building.

"Hey kid, what are you doing here?" Jazzy had baby April on her hip and the baby's face looked hastily scrubbed.

Merilee frowned at her. "What were you doing?"

"Nothing." Way too innocent.

"Jazzy, were you at a party?" That was the most innocent question Merilee felt like asking her.

Jazzy's eyes widened. "Oh no, nothing like that, I swear." She sighed. "Well you might as well come in."

Merilee did, and her eyes widened with shock at the disaster that was Jazzy's living room.

"Seriously Jazz, what did you do?"

It certainly looked like she'd thrown a party. The kind ten year old girls threw, with makeup and nail polish strewn all over the floor. Cosmetics were everywhere from her furniture to her walls, and even on the TV screen.

Jazzy winced. "I decided to teach April to play with girly things because she likes grabbing at my makeup. But my phone rang at the same time the microwave went off. I left her for maybe two minutes? And she was in her little bouncy seat, but I guess in my rush...I forgot to strap her in."

"Oh boy." Merilee looked around with wide eyes.

"You wanna help?" Jazzy asked hopefully.

Merilee smirked. "Oh Jazzy, I'd love to watch your baby and give her a proper bath while you clean up all of this. What a wonderful idea."

Jazzy groaned. She'd definitely been hoping Merilee would clean the house while she played with her baby.

"Be the Mama," Merilee said gently. "Mama's clean. Other people have fun with your baby." But then she realized how awful that sounded, especially with as much as she missed her own mother when she had to stay with other people. Jenna missed all the fun with her kids too. "Actually, you know what, scratch that. How about we take turns."

"Really?" Jazzy looked surprised.

"Really. There's no specific right way to raise your kid. She's _yours_. As long as you take care of her like a mother should, you should always decide what's best for her."

"I'm lost. That has nothing to do with the mascara coating my TV."

Merilee sighed. "What I mean is, you should spend time with April yourself. Not just as her financial support, but as her mom. She'll appreciate that. So we'll take turns on who cleans and who plays with the baby. But you take first shift. I did not make that mess, or enable the process."

Jazzy smiled at her. "You know, you're okay kid."

"So I've been told," Merilee mumbled, and they got to work.

* * *

"I can't believe my little Sunshine is all grown up."

Ella smiled and sat by her father, who immediately drug her into his lap like she was a young child again. "Daddyyyyy," she giggled.

"Hey, you're never too old to sit in my lap. If you are, that means I'm old too. And I will not accept being old, Sunshine. I just won't."

"Oh hush." Ally sat beside them, rolling her eyes good-naturally. "You were old long before she was grown honey."

Austin raised an eyebrow. "You're less than a year younger than me Dawson."

"Don't you Dawson me, Moon."

Ella groaned, but she was smiling. "Get a room you two. Gosh."

"We have a room," Austin countered. "It's just so much more fun torturing you kiddos."

Emma came and sat on Austin's other side. "When is Jazzy coming over? I can't believe I'm saying this but I miss her and the baby a little bit. Not the waking up at all hours, but they're family you know?"

Ella smiled at her precious little sister. "I know what you mean. I miss them too. Hopefully they'll be here soon."

She didn't miss the look her parents shared. It was so obvious they were planning something, She'd bet anything they'd be headed over to the mansion soon to celebrate with the whole family. That would likely be when the remaining family members they hadn't seen last week for Toby's birthday would give him his present.

Ella never minded sharing birthday things with Toby, even before they were dating. She felt it only made things more special. She just hoped he didn't spend as much on her as she had on him. She knew that wasn't really a fair expectation, but her parents were filthy rich. She could afford to spoil her boyfriend. All she wanted from him was for him to be there.

Eli and Evan interrupted her reverie by coming in from the kitchen (silently of course) and sitting on either side of Ally.

Evan groaned and laid across Ally's lap. "What are we waiting for?" He demanded. "I'm bored and I want to eat cake."

Ella snickered. "You just ate."

"And?" He raised an eyebrow. "I'm still hungry. I'm always hungry for cake."

Ella laughed. She had to give the kid that one. She, too, was always hungry for cake. Especially of the birthday variety.

"Anyway," Ally said, talking over her children, as she often had to do in this house, "we're waiting for everyone to get here."

At that very moment, the door opened, and three figures emerged. Three of Ella's favorite non-related people, to be exact.

It was totally unsurprising when Thalia and Derek came in bickering at each other. They were always bickering when they weren't shamelessly flirting with one another. Ella didn't mind. They were her best friends, and they often amused her with their silly antics. It was the person behind them she was most excited to see, however.

"Toby!"

Ella jumped up and threw herself in her boyfriend's arms.

Toby laughed. "Hey there Star. How's my grown girl?"

"Great." Ella leaned back and smiled up at him. "Where's my birthday kiss?"

He smirked and obliged willingly, kissing her softly. He'd probably have gone all out if her family hadn't been sitting there watching them, but Ella liked these feather light kisses just as much as she liked the passionate make-out sessions they sometimes got the chance to share.

He pulled back, looking at her with such a loving expression, it almost made her eyes water. "Happy birthday Ells."

"Thanks baby."

Ally was smiling widely at her oldest daughter, and turned to Toby. "Ready to take her?"

Ella was confused. "Take me? Take me where? I thought we were waiting on everyone to arrive."

Austin answered for them. "You still have about an hour or two, and Toby asked if he could take you on a picnic. Just be home by party time, okay?"

Ella smiled. "Thanks Daddy."

"Anytime Sunshine."

* * *

Ella wasn't sure her eyes could get any bigger. "This is SO not a picnic."

They were standing outside a tattoo parlor - the absolute last place Ella would expect Toby to take her to.

He grabbed her hand. "I know all your secrets, remember? I know you always wanted one. Happy Birthday."

"You're getting me a TATTOO?"

"Surprise?"

Ella was shocked. She never thought Toby would have the gaul to do something so crazy and impulsive. And if her parents ever found out…..

"You know my dad will kill you right?"

"I'm aware."

"And my mom won't be happy."

"Noted."

"And this is questionably legal."

Toby shook his head. "Eighteenth birthday, remember? We can do what we want… Within reason, of course. It's totally up to you, but I figured this would be a great present for your big one eight. What do you say?"

She had to think about it for a long minute. Her parents would FREAK if they found out. But he was right, she was technically an adult now. She could do this without their permission if she desired. And it was true, it had always been a secret desire she held close to her heart, only ever telling Toby. It was then she decided, and she knew exactly what she was going to get.

"Let's do this thing."

* * *

"Tella," Toby said approvingly, when Ella came out and pulled the waistband of her pants down enough for him to see her new body ink. "That's a mix of our names right?"

"Mhm." Ella pulled her pants back up and winced slightly. The black lettering hadn't hurt too much, but the pinkish-red rose she got beside it did. She'd forgotten to consider that red was the most painful color to get tattooed on the body for some reason.

Toby pulled her face to his and kissed her passionately. "I love you so so much."

"I love you too baby. Ready to go?"

"Not yet. We're gonna go pick up Jazzy and April. Logan's fixing her truck, and I know she'll like to see the one time you went a little wild." He elbowed her a little.

Ella grinned as they got in the car and drove towards Jazzy's apartment. He held her hand lightly on the gear shift while they drove, and Ella felt so peaceful, despite the slight stinging in her side.

* * *

When they arrived, Jazzy and the baby were already waiting outside the apartment complex.

Jazzy got up with a relieved sigh. "I locked my keys inside and the landlord isn't in. We've been out here for like an hour."

"Are you kidding me?" Ella demanded, snatching the baby up and putting her in the car immediately. "Toby, get her warm."

He wrapped his large body around her tiny one, and Ella shrugged out of her jacket, handing it to Jazzy. "You're lucky it's not that cold out yet."

"Yeah yeah I'm sorry," Jazzy put the jacket on and pulled Ella into a side hug. "Happy birthday girly."

Ella winced as her side came in contact with Jazzy's hip bone. "Thanks Jazz."

"What's wrong?"

"Uh…."

Toby grinned. "Show her Ells. Don't be bashful."

Ella looked around to make sure no one was looking, and showed Jazzy her brand new tattoo. Jazzy gasped dramatically, and bent down for a closer look. "Oh my gosh girl. I cannot believe you had it in you. A tattoo! Oh my gosh, Austin and Ally are going to kill you dead."

Ella rolled her eyes. "As opposed to killing me alive?" She pushed Jazzy toward the car. "You can't tell anyone. No one knows we weren't having a nice birthday picnic."

Jazzy shook her head. "This is the best news ever. I love having a big juicy secret. Prepare for me to use this against you if I ever have to. Not for babysitting, don't worry. I'm not that big a bi- Uh, jerk."

Jazzy was getting better about not cussing anymore, but she sometimes still forgot. It was mostly out of habit now.

Ella simply rolled her eyes. "Well, it's not like they can do anything about it now. It's legal, I'm an adult, and it can't be undone. Now get in the car before we're late."

* * *

Ella's party was in full swing. Her whole family was there, including, to Eli's disdain, Elliot Dawson.

"Why does he have to be here?" Eli practically whined to his Aunt Ally. "He gave us up."

Ally wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "E, your sister wants him here. He's her birth father, and her uncle. She loves him in a way. He's not here to torture you. I'm sure you can tough out his presence for a few hours right? For Ella?"

Eli sighed. He hated when these people caught him caring about them. "Fine. Can I stay in my room?"

"Nope. Now go have fun. Merilee's here."

"I see that." Eli tried not to huff. He wandered off, in the opposite direction of where Merilee was sitting by Jazzy and baby April, and found Emma hanging upside down from the couch.

"Hey kid."

"I am not a kid," Emma said, her face getting ever redder from the blood rushing to her head. "I'm almost twelve years old. You're only thirteen."

"I'm still a kid too, you know."

"Doesn't give you the authority to call me a kid, as if you're over me."

"I am over you. Literally. You're almost touching the ground, shorty."

"Shut up." Emma grinned and finally sat up, patting the seat beside her. "Pop a squat brother-cousin. Let's have a chat."

Eli raised an eyebrow. "Uh, about what?"

"About everything you're avoiding, duh."

His guard immediately went up several notches. "I'm not avoiding anything."

Emma rolled her eyes. "You're avoiding Uncle Elliot, Merilee, and talking to Evan."

"Evan doesn't exactly talk to me either."

"I know. I'll talk to him about that too. But right now we're on Elliot and Merilee. One, Elliot is your dad. Talk to him. Two, Merilee clearly has a crush on you, so stop leading her on."

"I'm not—"

"And third, talk to me. I'm good at keeping secrets."

He smiled a little. "I do talk to you, kid. More than probably anyone else in the house."

"See?" Emma grinned. "It's not so hard. You just gotta get out of your head a little."

"Whatever. I'm not accomplishing anything of that variety at Ella's birthday party. This is her special day. We need her happy—"

"IS THAT A TATTOO!?"

Emma hopped up to her feet. "Now that sounds interesting!"

Eli couldn't deny being a little curious too. They rushed to the living room where people had begun congregating around Ella and Terra, who was staring at Ella's hip.

Well, Eli thought, so much for Ella's happy birthday. She was going to be in _so_ much trouble.

* * *

Ella sat dejectedly on her parents' bed as they shut the door behind them. Things were never good when they wanted to talk to her alone, and they shut the door to do it.

"I'm sorry?" Ella said immediately, although it came out like a question.

"Just tell me one thing," Ally said sternly. "Who's idea was this? Yours? Jazzy's?"

"Not Jazzy's," Ella replied hastily. "I promise. She couldn't convince me of something like this. Besides," she added quietly, "I'm an adult now. It's legal."

That argument was not nearly as strong as she had hoped. She could practically hear their next words: _You live under our roof, you live by our rules._

Shockingly, that was not what they said.

Austin sat on one side of his daughter and pulled her close. "We know Sunshine. We just don't like it."

Ally sat on the other side of her, pushing her hair back. "Is this something you really want, baby? Are you sure you thought it through?"

Ella nodded emphatically. "I've always wanted one. Not to go crazy and get them all over my body, but get one or two meaningful ones in places employers wouldn't notice. That's not too crazy, is it?" She bit her lip. Ella hated disappointing her parents.

"No, baby," Ally smiled.

Ella looked at her father. "Are you mad Daddy?"

Austin kissed her temple. "I can't stay mad at you Sunshine. You're my girl."

Ally nodded. "It's your body, honey. As long as you're taking care of yourself, I think this isn't too unreasonable. Can we see it?"

Ella agreed hesitantly, and showed them. Both her parents looked confused.

Austin said, "Sunshine, I think they misspelled your name."

Ella shook her head. "No Daddy, I asked for it to say Tella. It's a ship name for—"

"Toby and Ella," Ally finished for her with an understanding smile. "That's adorable."

Austin stood up. "I take it all back. Where is that kid? He has some explaining to do."

"Daddy!" Ella exclaimed, at the same time Ally admonished, "Austin."

"What?" Austin cracked a smile. "I was just kidding. I'm not exactly thrilled our daughter got a boy's name partially inked on her body forever, but I guess it could've been worse."

Ally rolled her eyes at her child-like husband and turned to face her daughter. "So you didn't go to a picnic, then?"

"Um, no," Ella said apologetically. "This was my birthday present from him. I thought it was kind of perfect."

Ally stroked her hair. "Then we're happy for you. Just make sure you're taking care of that. Don't let it get infected. Use the ointment—"

"Mom," Ella whined, "please don't say 'ointment'."

"What?" Ally feigned innocence. "That's what it's called."

Ella merely smiled and hugged her. She loved her parents.

"Sunshine," Austin said, his voice oddly thickened. Ella turned to him curiously. "You'll always be our baby girl, no matter how old you get, alright?"

"Of course I will Daddy." Ella got up and hugged him tight.

Ally smiled. "I remember just like it was yesterday, finding you on my doorstep, and then waking up the next morning with Elliot gone. You were in this world three months before you were mine. And you've been mine ever since."

Ella's eyes watered. How had she gotten so lucky to have such wonderful parents? She could've ended up with a criminal for a mother, who would have taught her to beat children. Or a deadbeat dad. She loved her Uncle Elliot, but there was no doubt about him not being a very good person. He'd spent ten years in jail, and had abandoned two babies in his lifetime. He may be trying to make amends now, but Ella knew her life was so much better having not been raised by him, or Samantha.

She thought of Sam's letter suddenly, and had an odd desire to see the woman who'd given birth to her. She didn't know why. Maybe it had to do with the fact she legally could do so alone now. But she couldn't tell Austin and Ally that. They'd given up so much to keep her with them, and never let her end up in Samantha Freeman's greedy hands. They'd feel so hurt, knowing she wanted to get to know Sam.

It's not as if Ella wanted to know her in a motherly way. She wanted to understand. As a child, she'd been blind to the details of her conception and abandonment. Now, she knew most everything her parents knew. She wanted to know Sam's side. She wanted to know why a woman who had kept her baby for three months would suddenly leave her on the doorstep of a flighty man who could barely keep a roof over himself and his little sister. Why she hadn't loved her enough to keep her.

Ella's resolve hardened. She'd ignore Sam's request….for now. She did not want to hurt her parents, and it was not worth getting into right now.

"You're the best parents ever," Ella said finally, hugging and kissing both of their cheeks. "Thank you for loving me."

Austin's smile lit up the room. "Who couldn't love you Sunshine?"

Ella could think of a few people….

* * *

"... _Happy Birthday, dear Ella…..Happy Birthday to you!_ "

Ella blew out her candles. Eli smiled a little. She'd already opened her presents, so now all Eli had to do was grab a piece of cake and escape to the luxury of his and Evan's shared bedroom.

Unfortunately, Eli could not slip away before Elliot stopped him. "Eli."

Eli huffed. "What do you want?"

"I want you to talk to me. I'm your dad—"

"I don't have a dad. I only have— _had—_ a mom. And now she's gone too. So leave me alone. You know, like you did thirteen years ago."

"Eli—"

"And like you did to Ella eighteen years ago."

"Now hold on—"

"What?" Eli snapped. "You gonna deny it?"

Eli felt a soft hand on his shoulder, and looked up to see Ella standing there. "It's okay Eli. He knows what he did."

Elliot hung his head.

 _Oh, so you feel bad when she mentions it_ , Eli thought bitterly. He wasn't bitter towards Ella. He couldn't be. She was too nice.

Eli made an obscene gesture at his bio dad, and Ella quickly covered his hand before any of the younger kids in the house could see. Or maybe she just didn't want him getting in trouble with Austin and Ally. Maybe she thought they'd send him away too.

"Go to Hell," Eli seethed. "No one wants you here."

Ella wrapped a stiff arm around him. "I want him here, Eli."

"Why?" He demanded, wrenching from her grasp. "He gave you up too."

"I know," Ella said, closing her eyes for a minute. Eli was immediately sorry for saying that when he noticed faint traces of pain in her eyes when she opened them again. "But he's my family. I've forgiven him. Maybe one day you can too."

"I won't."

"Well then I'm sorry. Why don't you go on upstairs like you've wanted to all day and calm down a bit?"

Eli couldn't believe it. She was making _him_ leave? This was absurd.

"Fine," he spat. "Happy birthday."

He trudged upstairs, and noted the sound of footsteps behind him. "Go away Merilee."

When he turned, he got a big surprise. There was no one there. "What the…?"

He glanced at the wall across from him. There was a picture of him and his mom the day he was born. Ally had insisted they add it to the family picture wall when he came to live with her. Eli bit his lip, looking at it. His mom was so beautiful and full of life in that picture. This was after Elliot had abandoned them, but she'd never appeared happier as she gazed down at her baby boy with nothing but love in her eyes.

"Mom," he whispered miserably. "I'm sorry. I'm trying. But it hurts so much…."

Obviously, she didn't reply, but Eli could feel her presence surrounding him, the blanket of love he always felt when she looked at him the way she was looking at the baby in the picture.

"I love you too Mom," he mumbled, wiping his eyes.

* * *

At the end of the day, Ella and Toby lay on the couch together while everyone else was in bed. He was lightly stroking her hair, and Ella could barely keep her eyes open.

"This has been… best birthday ever…" she mumbled, eyes drifting shut. Her mouth fell open seconds later, and Toby smiled, pulling the covers up over them both.

"Good night my love," he told her quietly, kissing her forehead.

* * *

 **Ok so there you have it. Chapter seven. I promise it'll pick up from here guys. I didn't realize how much of a filler chapter this would be until it took me A WHOLE FREAKIN YEAR (and a half…) to write this one. I'm so, so sorry. If you are still with me…. Wow, that's incredible. I had so many reviews saying guests check for updates on this story regularly because they're not like the subscribers who get email updates when a story they follow has been updated. So again, thank you from the bottom of my heart if you are still reading this. I will continue to see this story through to its end, but I make no promises on frequent updates. The little 12 year old who started writing Austin & Ally fanfiction for fun is now a grown up college girl with finals next week. But I still love you guys, and I feel like I can never complete a real book for publication until I first see through these works from my past. **

**These characters are my babies. They were my life for a long, long time. I have new babies now, and these are all grown up, but will always hold a special place in my heart. I hope you come to visit them from time to time as I plan to. :)**

 ***I don't own anything you might recognize**

 **God Bless you all**

 **\- Daddysgirl11**


End file.
